In So Many Words
by Kosaka
Summary: Sequel to 'For What It's Worth'. For Seifer Almasy, getting over Zell Dincht is a complicated process involving revenge, reconciliation...and just maybe a little bit of love when he least expects it. SeiferHayner.
1. Prologue

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts II & some Final Fantasy VIII

Pairing: SeiferHayner

Notes: For those of you who haven't been reading this arc to date—I will be using the FFVIII version of Seifer. Why? Because the only FFVIII that got cooler when KH came around is Squall, that's why, so deal with it. :p However, this does mean that Seifer is considerably older than Hayner in this story. If that weirds you out, well, you've been forewarned.

Story 3 of 3. While each individual story _might_ make sense on its own to some degree, they're best taken as a whole and the order is as follows:

1. First Snow (LeonCloud, IrvineSquall)-Kingdom Hearts

2. For What It's Worth (SeiferZell)-Final Fantasy VIII

3. In So Many Words (SeiferHayner)-Kingdom Hearts

…so, yeah…you should probably read them in order or you may not understand what the hell is going on.

**In So Many Words**

**Prologue: Laughter and Misery**

"No, he ACTUALLY said that? Seriously?" Pence leaned forward with a bemused sparkle in his eyes and his lips curled up in a grin as he leaned forward in his seat.

Beside him, Olette had her hands over her mouth and was kicking her legs unable to stop giggling. "So lame…hahaha!" She wiped a tear from her eye.

Hayner grinned. "Well, not in so many words…" he admitted, "but he might as well have. He's such an ass. I'm totally going to kick his ass one day, just you watch." Hayner struck his fist against the air, but then winced and went back to nursing his sore shoulder. Somehow Seifer had bribed him into being his sparring partner. Hayner wasn't sure how it had happened because he was fairly sure the only thing he got out of it was a series of bumps and bruises and his now somewhat battered pride. Well, that and an admission from Seifer that he _was_ in fact an asshole which had kind of taken a little of the sting away. Hayner had found it terribly amusing so of course he'd had to share, but he wondered now if Pence and Olette weren't a little _too_ amused. Or maybe he was the one being weird. Ever since he found out that Seifer's lover had been killed he just couldn't look at the guy the same. Where he'd previously focused on Seifer's arrogance, now he noticed the misery laced behind his eyes.

Sure, Seifer was making it a habit to kick the crap out of him and he _was_ pissed. And Seifer _was_ a complete and total ass…it was just…Hayner was maybe starting to think he understood a little of what made him that way. And the fact that he'd put _understand_ and _Seifer_ in the same sentence really creeped him out to no end. He sighed and rolled to his feet, rubbing his bruised shoulder one last time. "Well, I'm off!" he announced.

"You're not _really_ going to work like that are you?" Olette asked.

Hayner made a scoffing noise. "No sweat. This is kid stuff. Besides, it's only mail delivery."

"Hayner…" Pence started to say. He was starting to really worry about his friend. He was distracted all the time lately and somehow Pence knew Seifer had something to do with it. And these past two weeks he was always sporting a limp or a black eye or a sore shoulder.

"I'm _fine_ Pence, really," Hayner insisted. "I may not be a keyblade wielder or anything, but I'm not a wimp either. I'm gonna prove it to that bastard if it kills me!" he insisted, punching the air and trying to hide the wince as he moved his shoulder the wrong way.

Pence frowned as Hayner headed out calling after him, "you know, it might."

Hayner didn't acknowledge the sentence and Olette and Pence exchanged a look. This, they decided, is what one might call an unhealthy obsession. They wondered how they were supposed to help their friend when he didn't seem to want to help himself…

…and if it was already too late.

---

_A/N: _ I'd like to take the chance once again to thank all the people who have followed this arc this far—you know who you are. As I only have a half-baked idea as to where I'm going with this, chapters may be updated less frequently than the previous stories until I figure it out, but you can still expect probably at least 2 chapters a week.


	2. Chapter 1

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts II & Final Fantasy VIII

Primary Pairing: SeiferHayner

Notes: Story 3 of 3. Sequel to "For What It's Worth" (FFVIII)

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

**In So Many Words**

**Chapter One: RSVP**

Seifer twitched, crumpled up the newspaper clipping he'd been dissecting with his eyes moments before, chucked it at the trashcan, missed, and apparently enraged by his bad aim, kicked a dent into the can sending paper and candy wrappers flying halfway across his apartment. His arms flailed in irritation as he saw all the trash he now had to pick up, as if some _other_ Seifer had just made the mess and left him to deal with the damages. He cursed, raked his fingers through his hair, and pulled his black beanie back down over his head before flopping into the folding chair before his desk and dropping his head in his hands with a groan that told in no uncertain terms just how much he hated his life.

He only wasted a moment like this before getting up, scrounging the newspaper clipping out of his available refuse, and using his thigh to try to de-wrinkle it and flatten it out again. He was in the middle of this process—squatting in a pile of crumpled papers, when the door creaked open. He glowered up accusatorily, looking every part the madman that he just might be turning into.

Hayner blinked down at the drunken lunatic currently inhabiting Seifer Almasy's body. He couldn't imagine what else could possibly be wrong to make Seifer scrounge through the trash on his floor in a black beanie, chocobo boxers, and oversized jeans that said boxers peeked well out of past a thick, unfastened, black leather belt. Lacking a better response to the sight on such short notice, the teenager blinked and stuck his arm out robotically and said "…you've got mail."

This seemed to bring Seifer a bit back to reality and he grunted and nodded toward the cluttered desk, sticking a thumb out. "Just put it over there," he all but grunted, stuffing the clipping into his pocket and standing up to fasten his belt.

Hayner forced himself not to stare. To accompany the scar crossing the bridge of his nose, Seifer's back was dappled with smaller scars. His hands, lately, had started to grow rough and calloused—his knuckles were cut open and there were tiny scrapes dappling his forearms. Hayner wanted to feel like this was a sign he was at least putting up a decent fight in their increasingly regular scuffles, but he knew that he hadn't caused half of them, which made him wonder what in Hades Seifer had been up to lately. He turned his attention to the desk that Seifer had directed him to as the older male dug through his dresser for a pair of socks—apparently a hell of a chore if the time it was taking was any indication.

The desk was littered with knick-knacks and newspaper clippings. Hayner's eyes trailed over the surface. '_Silver-haired Swordsman Kills Three'_ and '_Heartless Claim Trabia, will Balamb Stand?' _and '_Valentine Murder a Hoax?' _ If he'd read them the thing that might stand out was that all three articles made mention of a silver-haired man with an excessively large sword. It may not be much of a lead, but it was all Seifer had to go on and he clung to every thread he could find. Hayner's eyes widened slightly at the more recent newspaper on the corner of the desk. It was open to the classifieds and there was a circle and some math scribbled in the margin next to an advertisement for '_Gummi Ship for Sale. Slightly used but in good repair. 25k. Contact Reno: 365-222-1836.' _ Some small, furry animal seemed to lodge itself in Hayner's throat. Was Seifer leaving Twilight Town? Hayner knew that unlike Sora, Seifer wouldn't come back to visit. He chose not to think about just why that thought bothered him and put the sealed letter on top of the pile, staring down about what a sharp contrast the gold scrollwork of the envelope was to rumpled newspaper clippings and faded photographs half hidden between the folds.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer."

Hayner jumped to find Seifer just past his right shoulder. He flinched a little guiltily, but Seifer, despite his surroundings, managed to return to his usual aggravating calm. He reached past Hayner's midsection to claim the envelope, paying no heed to Hayner's current need for personal space as he frowned at the envelope, getting a sinking suspicion as to what it was.

Against his better judgment Hayner asked, "are you going to open it or just stare at it?"

Seifer whacked him on instinct which left Hayner trying desperately not to grab at his sore shoulder and cry out in pain. "None of your business," Seifer snipped before thinking of a better insult and asking, "why, do you want to be my date?" with a wry little smirk.

"You wish," Hayner retorted, rubbing at his shoulder and mouthing an 'ow!' when he thought Seifer wasn't looking.

"Oh yes. That's me alright," Seifer retorted in a dry monotone, finally starting to tear the envelope open. "Little pre-pubescent boys are _such_ a turn on." He rolled his eyes. "Get real, short stuff. You've got nothing I want."

He looked down at the letter. More elegant gold scrollwork cordially inviting him to the 'union' of Squall Leonheart and Cloud Strife and that he should RSVP by May 15th. "Besides," he said, tossing the envelope not in his battered trash can, but right out the window. "I'm not going."

Hayner's mouth opened, closed, and then he blinked stupidly at the older man. "I thought it was from your friends."

Seifer actually let out a bitter laugh at that. "Squall Leonheart and I are a lot of things, pipsqueak, but _friends_ has never been one of them. I don't like weddings. Only times in a man's life he's got to put on a suit and tie are when someone's getting married and when someone dies—I figure there's got to be a connection."

Hayner rolled his eyes. "You're so full of it," he said, giving up on the entire situation and heading towards the door. His eyes widened in surprise when Seifer stopped him.

"Sit down and take off your shirt."

Hayner's eyes widened and his face flushed. "I-I thought you didn't like 15 year olds!" he sputtered awkwardly.

Seifer sighed. "Your shoulder, you little moron—it hurts, doesn't it? Let me see it."

Feeling even stupider for his earlier comment now Hayner's cheeks flared a little more but he did as he was told. The quicker he did so the less painful it was likely to be, right? Right. Emotionally painful anyway. Even so, topless and sitting on a folding chair in Seifer's dank apartment he sure felt kind of vulnerable. Behind him, Seifer rifled through one of the desk drawers, so when his calloused fingertips suddenly came in contact with the sensitive skin of Hayner's shoulder blade a shiver rippled up the teenager's spine. His lips opened in surprise when a cool mist felt like it was surging through him where Seifer's fingers touched. It was something familiar, and yet foreign enough that he couldn't place it.

"What…?"

"It's just potion, relax," Seifer rolled his eyes. Hayner really could be an idiot. It reminded him of someone he wished he could get off of his mind, and from the back like this he could almost mistake one for the other. Hayner was a good deal thinner, his shoulders far more narrow, but the way he moved sometimes, and the way he dressed—how easy it was to get him all riled up…there was something very Zell-like about him that Seifer hated admitting to noticing.

"But why…" Hayner started to ask. Why was he doing it like this, smoothing it over his bare skin and sending ripples of sensation up and down his spine, down his arm and towards his fingertips instead of…ah damn it…it felt nice.

Seifer sighed at having to say even this much. "Where I come from, we used potions a lot," he answered. "And there wasn't always a lot of money. We learned how to make things last. Guess I still haven't kicked the habit." Even now he could remember clearly what it had been like to do this for Zell. They had a little bungalow by the shore just barely big enough for two. Zell would come home some nights achy and sore and he would slowly, bit by bit, use a potion to massage the soreness away. Afterwards, they always ended up making love. For a moment, Seifer's large hands paused flat against Hayner's back to either side of his spine as he found himself once again feeling depressed that he would never again be able to share moments like that with the man he loved.

Hayner forgot how to breathe. Seifer's hands were warm on his skin and a sharp contrast to the cooling effect of the potion on his bare skin and the ache was quickly leaving his shoulder. He could feel Seifer's breath ruffling his hair and repressed a shudder. But Seifer abruptly rose and stalked toward the door to his bedroom. "Shut the door when you go," he said.

Hayner found himself torn and confused. What was that just now, and did he really want to know? He threw his shirt back on and stumbled out of the apartment as if he just had to get out of there right this instant. He needed to get outside, get some air, and most of all he needed to get away from Seifer Almasy before he went crazy with…with…_something_.

He leaned against the side of the building and let out a yell of frustration, grasping his hair as if he would pull it out and then just letting his hands drop at his sides in defeat. Just as he was about to give up entirely and head back to the usual spot, a wind picked up and a piece of paper nailed him right in the face. He cursed, flailed, peeled it away…and found it was Seifer's invitation. He stared at it a long moment, a curious thought racing through his mind and on impulse scribbled 'be there with bells on' on the return mail and stuck it in the nearest mailbox on his way, shoving the pen back into his pocket. If Seifer ever found out…he was dead, but there was a good chance nothing would ever come of it. Maybe. He didn't even know why he did it. It was like his hand had moved on its own. He frowned at the appendage for the trouble it had undoubtedly just gotten him into, but decided he wouldn't bring it up.

Something was changing. He couldn't shake the feeling of Seifer's hands or the way he said '_Get real, short stuff. You've got nothing I want._' He couldn't shake the fear that Seifer was planning to leave before he got strong enough to beat him, before he even stood a chance. That, he decided, was unforgivable.

---

_To Reviewers: _

_AlescA_: I'm figuring on a good 8 years at least. It's been a good long while. If you figure in FFVIII Squall was 17and by KH2 he's, I believe, 26, that's a 9 year difference. If he was almost 18 at the end of FF8, and just turned 26 by KH, it might be 8 years, but I would say we're definitely _at least_ 8 years later. Seifer, being a year older than Squall, would be 27 in this story and with Hayner at…what…15 or 16ish (?) it's kind of a big gap, but I'm going to run with it anyway.

Remember boys and girls, in the real world this would make Seifer a pedophile. And that's the Michael Jackson kind of wrong. But Kingdom Hearts is not the real world, so we're going to run with it because we feel _really bad_ for Seifer after what I did to him in the last story. :p


	3. Chapter 2

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts II & Final Fantasy VIII

Primary Pairing: SeiferHayner

Notes: Story 3 of 3. Sequel to "For What It's Worth" (FFVIII)

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

A/N: Ugh. I feel lame this week. It's taken me forever to find time to sit down to write this chapter. And I don't want to hear 'formatting' and 'hard drive' in the same sentence for AT LEAST two months. I need time to recover. Other phrases I'd rather not hear are 'car insurance', 'unpack', 'snow' and '100 flyers.' My printer is going to cry.

What can I say? It's been a busy week, but I'm going to try to get back on track with the over-indulging of my creativity now.

**In So Many Words**

**Chapter Two: Junker**

Hayner was starting to think he'd missed his calling in life. Forget struggle battles—he should just be a spy. The way he snuck around after Seifer these days was positively Double-O-Short-Stuff…or at least that's probably close to the offensive nickname that Seifer would come up with for him…after Seifer'd killed him when he got caught. He decided it was a damn good thing that he knew his way around the tunnelways, because otherwise it would have been hard to follow Seifer without being caught in the long, narrow corridors. Now he found himself awed by the fact that there was a gummi hangar down here in twilight town. He didn't know why this surprised him. Sora visited often and he had to land _somewhere_, right? Right. He shouldn't be shocked. Why it was that he'd lived in Twilight Town his whole life and didn't know about it though was anyone's guess. Twilight town was strange like that—you could spend your whole life exploring and never stumble across a thing like this, but when you need it, it's always right there. Hayner figured that was just life's little way of seeing if you were paying attention and didn't give it any further attention. More importantly than that was Seifer, leaning to one side like he was trying not to look particularly agitated even though he always looked agitated.

A man entered through a side door and Hayner blinked. His hair was, amazingly, the same shade of red as Cherry Dimetapp. He made a face instinctively. Cherry Dimetapp—ew, gross. He imagined this guy must be Reno…and from the looks of him…hey, was this guy drunk?

Hayner leaned forward a little, squinting his eyes. Human beings are weird like that, they squint when they're trying to listen better even though they can see perfectly fine, but he still couldn't make out what was being said. A few words were exchanged. Reno sighed melodramatically, but then nodded towards hangar #3 and Seifer followed. Hayner hurried, but snuck up to the door, just barely managing to hold it open behind them so he could peek through. He paled at what he saw. The gummi was a total junker: technology that had been old as long as Hayner knew, the metal frame was dented in like the ship had been on the wrong side of one too many grappler fights, and it looked like someone had come along and hijacked anything of value so quickly that the weapon rings were busted and the nose tilted to the left. No wonder the guy was only asking twenty-five thousand. Well, Hayner figured, he could rest assured that Seifer wouldn't be going anywhere in the immediate future. You'd have to be either a complete idiot or desperate to…

"Will it fly?" Seifer asked.

Hayner's jaw dropped. He'd forgotten who he was spying on here. It was _Seifer_, and apparently he wanted out of Twilight Town pretty badly …either that or he had a death wish.

"Oh yeah," Reno answered. "It'll fly." He sounded confident, but the way he wore that smirk made Hayner wonder if flying wasn't the only thing it was capable of…and probably barely that. "Just ah…don't move the crates tied down in the right side of the cargo bay."

Seifer quirked a brow slightly. "Dare I ask?"

Reno seemed to contemplate this a moment before saying, "Just don't do it and everything's gravy, okay?"

A few moments of silence passed between them. "Twenty-five?" Seifer asked as if he was thinking about it.

Hayner couldn't believe his ears.

"Twenty-five," Reno answered with a smile and nod.

More silence.

"I've only got nineteen," Seifer answered.

"I'll take it!" Reno replied cheerfully. They both knew in reality it was only worth twelve—and that was if you dismantled it for parts.

Seifer gave a curt nod. "Half now, half when I come to pick it up in the morning," he said. "I don't trust you to not take what's left of it between now and then."

Reno stuck his tongue out at the broody blonde. "Paranoid much?" he asked. "But fine fine, as long as I get my munny. I'm going to send my partner to pick up the cash tomorrow. There's no way I'm getting out of bed before noon if I can help it."

Hayner believed it. The Dimetapp-haired, goggle-wearing drunk would probably still be in the middle of tonight's bender at sunrise if the way he swayed slightly when he walked was any sign, but more importantly than that…was Seifer _really_ thinking of flying that death trap? And for that matter, did Seifer even know how to pilot a gummy ship. It's not that he was worried it was just…okay, so he was worried. He may be an asshole but that didn't mean Hayner wanted him to die. There was just something about a world without Seifer that didn't sit right.

That's when he made his decision—hiding behind a pile of crates as Reno and Seifer left the gummi hangar—he would sabotage Seifer's ship so it couldn't take off. Yeah, that would work! Okay, so he didn't know the first thing about gummi ships. How hard could it be? The thing was practically falling apart already, right? Right. Of course, everyone knows when someone says 'how hard could it be?' they're just looking for trouble, but it's easy to forget such things in the heat of the moment—at the very least, it makes a half-decent excuse…

…and Hayner was going to need one.

---

_To Reviewers: _

_AgentOz: _As usual your comments make me laugh! He may very well get his ass whooped but…not until Seifer finds out, at the very least.

_popthetarts: _So glad I could convert you in that case! You needn't worry—I usually update very quickly—been a little slow lately because life went all crazy-like, but at worst you should be able to expect a new chapter every week—more than that when I can make it happen. (Which really depends on how much time I have to kill at work—when the weather's bad, we're slow.)

Rest assured everyone I am shooting for plowing through this fic with the speed of the last two, but I find I've had a lot going on lately and I'm in the process of moving things from one hard drive to another…one file at a time, which is an incredibly tedious process (I need order in my life damn it!) so my progress on this story is directly related to the weather in the Tristate area: when it snows or is unnaturally cold, I have more time to kill at work. 'nuff said.


	4. Chapter 3

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts & Final Fantasy VIII

Pairing: SeiferHayner (with mention of others)

Notes: story 3 of 3. Sequel to "For What It's Worth"

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

**In So Many Words**

**Chapter 3: Human Cargo**

He'd decided to think of it not as 'sabotaging Seifer's piece of crap gummi ship. Sabotage was such a harsh word. No, Hayner had been in here all night stabbing anything he could stab, cutting anything that didn't look like it might make the ship blow up, jamming buttons—or trying to—and doing his level best to make a real nuisance of himself…only to find this damn ship just _refused to die!_ And in that time he'd decided to consider it not 'sabotage' at all but 'doing Seifer a favor'…actually, he was saving some poor, unsuspecting world the displeasure of having to ever know Seifer Almasy. Yeah, that made him sound like some really lame, really nerdy superhero…okay maybe it was just the best he could come up with to overcome the slightly guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach…or the fact that Seifer would murder him when he found out…IF he could get this damn ship to make an awful mechanical dying noise…but that 'engine ready' light just blinked happily up at him like it was saying 'haha! Sucker! You think you can defeat me?!' Insert maniacal laugher here.

In irritation, Hayner kicked the console, stubbed his toe...and at that exact moment, as he cursed and bent over the swelling appendage—he heard voices. The gummi hangar doors opened and shut with a burst of air and a sucking noise. Hayner found himself holding his breath and just barely able to keep the string of curses from escaping his lips. Crap! How the hell was he going to get off the ship without being noticed?!

Seifer's heavy boots—when he'd learned Seifer's individual footsteps was a mystery to Hayner—approached the ship. Hayner gulped. _Shit shit shit shit!_ For a moment he honestly considered barreling past Seifer when the door opened. Then he remembered one very important fact: he'd totally die. …because Seifer would murder him with an angry look…and then beat the tar out of him just for good measure. Truth be told, Seifer sometimes really frightened him, and it wasn't that 'I got surprised in a lame horror movie' kind of fright either; it was 'oh my god this guy might just be a demon in disguise' kind of fright. It was in the eyes: those deep emeralds told Hayner in no uncertain terms that Seifer…he'd killed people, and he intended to do so again. But for some reason that just wasn't enough to make him avoid the older man—he seemed to have this reflex reaction. He would think 'sca-ry!' and then immediately after 'but he'd never hurt me on purpose.' In spite of the fact that Seifer had purposely beaten the tar out of him on repeated occasions Hayner just couldn't see it as intentional malice, and so…

…when the doors opened he dove behind that pile of crates tied to the side of the ship—there was this little gap in the middle just big enough for a mostly scrawny teenager to squat down in. He figured when Seifer turned around he'd jump over the top and barrel out the door before he was any the wiser. Yeah, that was the plan.

Seifer glanced around the ship that he'd thrown away years of hard-earned money on and couldn't help but feel like he'd somehow gotten royally screwed. Even so, he had to leave. If he didn't go now he was sure he'd lose his resolve again and settle himself into Twilight town and struggle battles. He'd even _lost_ his last Struggle! How pathetic was that! And to some kid! Keyblade wielder or no Seifer just couldn't accept that at all. He made a scoffing noise and moved to the console. The engine light was on. "That bastard didn't even turn it off," he complained, muttering something about stupid drunks and wasting his battery.

Hayner took this as his chance and started to rise, when his belt got stuck on a nail sticking out of one of the crates. As funny as it might be to see a half naked teenager running like crazy out of a beat up gummi ship at mid-morning, Hayner decided he didn't want to be that teenager and in that instant his chance to escape disappeared. The doors rattled a bit at first but eventually sucked together to an airtight seal and he could feel the engine humming underfoot. He swallowed. He wasn't supposed to be a stow-away damn it! He didn't want to die as human cargo stashed between crates full of lord only knows what! The gummi ship of imminent doom was _not_ what he had in mind for his now dramatically shortened future. He was sure the second it burst through the atmosphere it was going to fall into a bunch of tiny gummi pieces. And he definitely hadn't planned to die with _Seifer_.

He peeked over the lip of the crates at the older blonde as he struggled with his belt and that evil little nail that refused to let him go. Seifer was sitting down in front of the console stabbing impatiently at a jammed key. A soft 'pop' resulted in the letter 'r' repeating seven or eight times. "Never fails," the older blonde muttered. "Right when you're making progress someone asks you "do you want to take a survey? No, bastard, I wanna take off!" He stabbed the 'n' button a good ten times with his index finger before the screen finally blipped away from the twenty questions and into flight mode. "About damn time," Seifer griped.

Hayner managed to free his belt and ducked down just in time to feel the damnable death trap lift off the ground. 'Oh god oh god oh god! Pence, Olette, I'm really, really sorry! It doesn't look like I'll be able to go to the beach after all…'

Seifer's shoulders were tense as he frowned at the screen. It rattled and if it was on autopilot the damn thing veered to the left. He manually steered the craft with one hand opening a text communication link with the other. 'Just had to buy a ship that really needs two people to keep it going in a straight line, didn't I?' he thought dryly. Well, too late to worry about that now, it had cost him every cent he had, now he had to figure out how much he was going to have to get his hands on for a decent weapon. A gunblade was probably too much to hope for, so he supposed he'd settle for a large sword. "This is going to cost a small fortune," he complained a little. He should have taken more odd jobs in Twilight Town, but if he had to attack cargo uphill or deliver mail to owls one more time he was going to seriously go postal.

His immediate panic fading, Hayner peeked over the edge of the crates again just in time to see Seifer _just barely_ miss clipping a building as he tried to gain altitude while looking through a weapon brochure. 'One thing at a time moron!' he wanted to scream, just barely managing to bite his tongue. He had bigger problems right now. For one, when Seifer found him he was going to beat him within an inch of his life…and then the ship was going to fall apart and they were both going to suffocate in deep space. …and he was hungry.

Seifer frowned at the sword on screen for a moment, considering and then making a scoffing noise. "Well, _someone_ is overcompensating," he stated.

"_Grruuuuunnnn!"_

'Gruuuunnn?' Seifer wondered, daring to put the ship in autopilot now that there were no major obstacles in the way and get up. It had come from the crates. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. What the hell was in those crates?

Hayner frowned down at his stomach, one hand pressed to his lips. 'Shh!' Like his empty stomach was likely to listen. "Grrrr!"

'_Grrr?'_ Seifer wondered, looking down over the crates to see a small person sandwiched awkwardly inside. That hair…! His jaw worked in aggravation.

A chill ran down Hayner's spine and a sense of imminent disaster forced him to look up slowly. His stomach groaned again. "Uh hey!" he said with a weak grin. "Crazy coincidence, meeting you here…" Lame. Lame Lame Lame!

Seifer grabbed the teen's collar and yanked him upwards…and wasn't it just Hayner's luck that that damn nail latched onto his belt and yanked his pants down around his ankles, so here he was—on a piece of crap gummi ship that veers to the left, looking up into Seifer's positively murderous gaze…hovering in midair with his feet between crates full of lord only knows what—probably holding the right side of the ship together for all he knew—and caught with his pants down …literally.

…and Seifer was going to hit him. He winced as the fist came closer to the point of impact, turned his face away…and the ship suddenly _stopped_. There was a sudden jolt, a loud crack, and Seifer went toppling over the crates, dropped Hayner who crashed back into more crates, and given the pain blossoming across the back of his skull from impacting with the nearby wall Hayner was kind of thinking it would have been better to just get punched if this was the alternative. He groaned in pain and looked down to where Seifer was lying prone in a pile of shiny, multi-colored orbs cursing up a storm in his irritation.

The communication link fizzled with static for a moment before a certain redhead appeared on the screen, grinning apologetically. Hayner tried to blink the blurriness out of his vision.

"Sorry, sorry!" Reno said. "As it turns out I'm gonna have to take those crates back from you now 'kay?" The sound of the bay doors air seal being overridden from outside told them he was damn serious and they were in no position to argue.

Well, it could be a worse day, right? There could be heartless. There weren't any heartless, right? Well…right??

---

_To Reviewers:_

_Muchacha_: Whoa. Respect your feelings and everything dearie, but maybe if you hate Hayner that much you shouldn't be reading SeiferHayner fics, right? After all _of course_ he's going to get in the way. If he didn't I'd have a really short, really boring story on my hands. And for the record, I happen to like Hayner, but then, if I hated him I wouldn't be writing about him, right? (So I say, but for the longest time I couldn't stand Seifer. Now I find him amusingly stupid—but I still think he's an ass.) Regardless, deep breaths are called for I think.

_popthetarts: _Blame my rp buddies. One of them got me into this plotline that involves the insanity of Reno x Selphie and I found him entertaining enough that when I thought 'hmm, who would sell Seifer a lemon of a gummi ship?' he immediately came to mind for a cameo appearance. Glad you're so happy to see another chapter, so here's another one. Hope to write the next chapter soon.


	5. Chapter 4

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts & Final Fantasy VIII

Pairing: SeiferHayner (with mention of others)

Notes: story 3 of 3. Sequel to "For What It's Worth"

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

**In So Many Words**

**Chapter 4: Dizzy**

Hayner pulled his pants up quickly, instinctively grabbing a handful of the shiny orbs and stuffing them into one of the pockets of his shorts. He didn't know why he'd done it. He wasn't a klepto or anything, but they somehow reminded him of something important. More than that, they were probably worth something.

Seifer failed to notice. He cursed again and scrambled to his feet, glaring down at a certain red head that was considerably more sober now than he was before. "Bastard," the blonde cursed and lunged—intent on throttling Reno with his bare hands. He'd been used. Having been brainwashed by an evil sorceress into attempting to kill all of his childhood friends once before—Seifer appreciated being used by people even less than most.

Reno, unapologetic bastard that he was, gave Seifer a crippling shock. "Geez, you big guys sure can take a hit. Just stay down, huh? No reason this has to get personal. "Just unloading cargo you don't want anyway, right?"

Smuggling bastards. No good scavengers. Electrocuting otherwise mostly decent and respectable members of society and what not. Seifer tried to get up and groaned in pain. How many volts had the red-headed bastard hit him with, anyway?

"Hey kid," Reno smirked at Hayner and said, "Nice shorts," in one of those 'haha, aren't I sooo funny' kind of ways.

Hayner's fist clenched. Oooh, he really wanted to pummel the bastard…as soon as he sent Reno #2,3, and 4 back to the ship. Diiizzzyyyy… He grabbed his head from the prior impact and toppled backwards onto his ass as the com link fizzled and the ship jolted.

Seifer, much to his disdain, grabbed his stomach with a very 'about to lose my lunch' expression on his face. Damn it all to hell! He was better than this, wasn't he? Couldn't even stand up to a scrawny little good for nothing like Reno? Was he ever going to be good enough? How was he going to avenge Zell's death if he couldn't even stand up? He'd only been electrocuted a little, really. He should be perfectly fine damn it!

"Ah crap! Rude, Elena, hurry up with those crates, we gotta run, run RUN!" Reno demanded. "Stinkin' cops. I found it so it's mine and that's all there is to it!" He stuck his tongue out at the quickly approaching authority, shook his tazer…or whatever the hell it was…and high tailed it off the ship.

There was another firm jolt. Hayner groaned in irritation at all the jostling and Seifer suffered another blow to his pride as the chair near the console disconnected and flew—right into the back of his skull—knocking him unconscious.

---

When he awoke sometime later it was to the smell of formaldehyde, a rather annoying beeping noise and someone tapping. Tapping. Tapping. "Cut that out before I kill you," he groaned before peeking his eyes open against the blindingly fluorescent lights. For a moment, he thought he was looking at Zell. Just a moment. Then his vision focused and he felt very, very annoyed.

"Nurses brought food," Hayner informed him, fiddling with the pen he had been tapping out of nervous energy moments before on the arm of the chair he was sitting in.

Seifer sat up with a grunt and lifted the tray cover, frowning. Dry meatloaf. Soggy mashed potatoes and something that looked as if once it had been string beans but now was little more than a pile of long, skinny green raisins. "This isn't food," he said in disgust lowering the lid.

"Whatever, dumbass. Beggars can't be choosers," Hayner quipped. "You haven't got any money, right? So don't bitch."

Seifer blinked. Maybe it was whatever drugs they'd put him on or the fact that he was still half asleep. He blinked.

"_Beggars can't be choosers," Zell quipped, tossing the slightly dented frying pan to Seifer to put away._

"_Where the hell did you get this thing?" Seifer asked with a laugh, poking at the inverted left side and pressing against it to see if they could maybe bang it back out._

"_We don't have any kitchen stuff," Zell said with a frown. "And we don't have any money either. Just put it away. It'll still cook alright. Bottom's still flat, at least."_

"…_mostly."_

"_Picky, aren't we?" Zell smirked, wrapping his arms around Seifer's waist. They'd only just moved into their little bungalow on the beach and all they really had was a twin mattress to share—which was secretly fine with Seifer—it meant that cuddling was the only comfortable way to sleep—a few chairs and a table that had been left behind—a dresser and a closet with three hangars in it, some food—nothing to really cook it in, and a stack of paper plates._

_Seifer smirked and turned, draping his arms about Zell's shoulders. "I settled for you, didn't I?" he joked. Well, as long as he had Zell, he figured, he could deal with a banged up frying pan and being flat broke._

But he didn't have Zell anymore and glared at Hayner before letting the subject go and stabbing the bendy little straw through the sippy that contained his orange juice. 'Thanks for the reminder dweeb,' he thought sullenly. He chose to give Hayner a break though, just this once. The teenager might be in the visitor's chair, but Seifer didn't miss the white bandage wrapped around his head or the 'I have a headache' frown.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Seifer asked at last, irritated but having lost some of his rage thanks to recent events.

"I didn't think," Hayner muttered, embarrassed at his own behavior now that he had time to think about it. "You're piece of crap ship is trashed, by the way."

Seifer's frown deepened. So he'd spent 19,000 munny and what did he have to show for it? Scrap metal. Joy. "Where the hell are we, anyway?"

"…don't know," Hayner answered. "Not exactly, anyway. Something about a Dizzy Castle." Speaking of dizzy, the room was going to stop spinning soon, right?

---

_To Reviewers: _

_Popthetarts: _Hah! No heartless, not YET anyway. But a good, fun, minor concussion…just for good measure.

Will _hopefully_ write more soon. Things have gotten kind of busy for me with the turn of weather and lots of html—I swear I'm starting to dream in brackets, but I have not given up! I will prevail! …if it kills me, which, for the record, it just might…


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: My god, life has gotten so INSANE. There's always so much to do. So those of you still following this story even though my updates don't come a fraction of as often as I'd like, THANK YOU. I'd offer you candy…if there was a way to pass it through the internet and make it pop out on the other side. And then, for the past few days FF NET wasn't letting me upload, but now I'm set, so here's another chapter.

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts & Final Fantasy VIII

Pairing: SeiferHayner (with mention of others)

Notes: story 3 of 3. Sequel to "For What It's Worth"

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

**In So Many Words**

**Chapter 5: Red Like Fire**

When you weren't doing anything in particular days tended to bleed into nights and nights into more nights. Seifer felt like he ached everywhere from all the not moving he'd been up to lately. The first night in the hospital he'd tried to get out of bed only to get attacked and babbled at by two chipmunks and a mop. The second day sometime he'd tried again to find a duck in an evening gown appeared to be glaring at him. After that he thought he'd just…stay in bed for a while since he was OBVIOUSLY hallucinating. I mean, what was next? Talking mice?

Hayner mostly left him alone, though he usually checked in from time to time—always wearing the most perplexed expression Seifer had ever seen. But Seifer was going stir crazy. Hallucinating or not he needed OUT OF BED, before his muscles deteriorated and he went totally insane. Just as he was sitting up, the door opened and he was sure he was going to see another talking animal or moving inanimate object…and was actually relieved it was just Hayner. The teenager looked a little sullen and uncertain—the sullen wasn't too extreme, but in all the time Seifer had known Hayner he'd never been uncertain about anything. When he was right, he was smug; when he was wrong, he was dead wrong. Seifer's brow furrowed a bit as the silence struck between them.

"You're feeling better," Seifer stated more than asked. The bandages that had wrapped about Hayner's head for the past week or so were notably absent today.

"I guess," Hayner answered, shifting his weight a bit, fingers twined behind his back. Pause. Shift. "The king wants to know what you want to call it."

Seifer blinked.

"…your ship," he elaborated. "We've been fixing it."

"What? How?" Seifer felt a headache threatening to take over his entire skull as he tried to get his mind around it. "And where the hell do you get off? I don't take charity from just anyone, you know."

"It's not charity!" Hayner snapped. "I…came across some munny, that's all. You can pay me back when you're back on your feet and all."

Seifer glared a bit more. He didn't like owing people either…but…damn he really had no choice at the moment. No money, no weapon, and achy everywhere. Still, he did feel better today than he had—and not quite as paranoid about his bizarre hallucinations. After all, he wasn't hallucinating that Hayner was a large bunny or anything.

"Is he sleeping?" The voice that came from the doorway was high pitched and squeaky—not that it grated on the nerves, but there was no other way to describe it.

"Ah, no, he's awake now…" Hayner answered, and damn it all, a giant, talking mouse walked into the room! Oh for pity's sake!

"Seifer, wasn't it? Will you walk with me a bit? Hayner…"

Hayner nodded and said, "Uh, yeah…your majesty," and actually moved to help Seifer up.

Seifer stared at him for a long moment before gesturing Hayner forward to whisper something and cupping his mouth just in case the mouse king could read lips.

Hayner quirked his brow slightly, but decided it was best to not argue with Seifer…pretty much ever—hazardous for the health and all.

"Are you aware that you're being bossed around by a talking mouse?" Seifer asked.

"Yeah," Hayner answered with a slight frown.

"So…the chances that we're having the same exact hallucination are pretty slim then…" Seifer mused.

Hayner, unable to contain himself at the way Seifer ruminated over this point, covered his mouth and started snickering, earning a frown from the larger blonde. He waved his hand as if to brush it off "No, no, I know, at first it's kind of strange, but you know, we all met Donald and Goofy before, so when you think of it that way it's really not so strange."

Goofy and...ohh…the dog and the duck. "This is their world then." Quick study anyone.

Hayner nodded to which Seifer said simply, "oh," and forced himself to his feet, a little wobblier than he cared to admit, Hayner was forced to catch him a bit.

Seifer blinked again in confusion. Hayner sometimes seemed way too familiar. Must be preoccupied—because the brat kept reminding him of Zell and really, the two were nothing alike. Nope. Nothing, other than having the same taste in clothes, that is. He straightened himself as if Hayner's catching him before he could face plant had really put him out and rolled his shoulder a bit. "Where are we going?" he asked the mouse…still feeling slightly weirded out about talking to a rodent, King or otherwise.

"I thought a tour, for starters," King Mickey informed. "And I have something of yours. Have you thought of a name for the ship yet? And what color it should be? Chip and Dale are really eager to get to work on it. They kept peeking in on you to see if you were awake enough to ask."

Seifer, distracted and still a little groggy answered. "Ehrgeiz." Silence. "It should be red, like fire."

Hayner's step faltered and before he knew it both Seifer and King Mickey were looking back at him, wondering what was wrong from some ten paces ahead. He blushed a bit at his own stupidity. What was that just now? "Ah, nothing, I just got a little dizzy for a minute. I'm okay now." His chest felt hot and swollen. Well, it was probably nothing. "What's Ehrgeiz?" he asked as he hurried to catch up.

"Nothing," Seifer answered. "Mind your own business."

"…dickhead," the teenager couldn't help but mutter under his breath, finding the strangest urge to say 'why are you always like this?' But that was stupid. Since when did Hayner and Seifer have an 'always'? No, that would be admitting _something_. He didn't know what, but he was sure he didn't like it, not one bit. He was pretty confident 'not liking some as yet undetermined _thing_' was about all they had in common.

_To Reviewers(all one of you):_

Popthetarts: Thanks for your frequent and entertaining reviews as always. Will write another chapter as soon as I can.


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: Flashback fun in _italics_, as usual.

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts & Final Fantasy VIII

Pairing: SeiferHayner (with mention of others)

Notes: story 3 of 3. Sequel to "For What It's Worth"

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

**In So Many Words**

**Chapter 6: Materia Possessions**

Seifer didn't waste time. Hayner had to give him credit for that much at least. When Seifer set his mind on something, come hell or high water, he was going to make it happen. Of course, that was only a compliment in theory—when it involved dragging Hayner out of bed at 2:45 AM to launch Ehrgeiz, Hayner really didn't think it was much of a virtue.

"Hurry up before they regain consciousness!" Seifer bit out.

"They?" Hayner blinked groggily, tripping over a vine in the jungle they'd landed in. He rubbed his eyes and yelped slightly as Seifer turned his chin and therefore his attention to a few strands of Red hair peeking out from beneath a pile of rocks. Hayner knew it instantly and tensed, but only for an instant, he didn't have time as Seifer soon was dragging him back on board the Ehrgeiz.

"What about that guy you're looking for?" Hayner asked.

"Not here," Seifer stated.

"You sure."

"Yeah. Ape-boy told me, and he's too dumb to lie. Wake up, dumbass, we've gotta fly."

Hayner found himself unceremoniously tossed into the gunman's seat. How Seifer actually trusted him to shoot at—and hit!—moving objects when he'd never even SEEN a gummi ship from this side before very recently was beyond him, but Seifer was a cranky bastard that it was easier not to argue with if you could help it…especially when you were only half conscious…and _especially_, when the blonde was now rather lethally armed.

"_I think this belongs to you," the King said, releasing some kind of magical seal that caused the cabinet doors to creak open, emitting the stereotypical strange light with just as stereotypical a dying down to reveal—gasp—a weapon. A BIG weapon._

_Hayner watched as Seifer, stunned, took an instinctive step back before stepping forward. He didn't think he'd ever see it again. "Where did you get this?" _

_For once it was awe on his voice rather than the usual arrogant demand. Hayner found it bizarre that Seifer might think anything was that precious. He just couldn't get his mind around it. Seifer didn't seem the type for getting attached—but that just shows how little Hayner really knew about Seifer. It all felt somehow wrong, but he couldn't place what about his own line of thought seemed so off to him._

_Seifer picked up the gunblade and gave it a good swipe. It cut a path of gold flame through the air above Hayner and the King's heads. Hayner could almost feel Seifer get stronger just by having this object back in his possession. He seemed to glow with a sort of 'king of the jungle' pride. Hayner felt insignificant by comparison, like he was being left behind somehow. He'd always known that Seifer claimed to have slacked off and gotten weaker, but now that he could see a hint of what the older male once was, he couldn't help but feel like excess baggage. How was he ever going to keep up now?! All he had to work with was his bare hands, damn it! Even a foam bat had to be better than this, right?_

Hayner had never felt like more of a kid in his life. The feeling had yet to fade. He still had such a long way to go. He just didn't know where it was he was supposed to be going or if he was going to figure it out any time soon. "I'm not cut out for thiiisss," the teenager complained, shooting rather randomly at heartless ships as Seifer barreled through a maze of pathways between worlds. He knew Seifer didn't really know where he was going, but at least the older blonde faked it well.

"Yeah, well, you're all I've got so suck it up and stop whining," Seifer returned. The words were oddly comforting. It meant that in some bizarre way, Seifer needed him, even if most of the time he did a whole lot of getting in the way and he couldn't shoot worth crap, and he was just getting dragged along after the larger blonde…Seifer needed him there. It made him feel slightly less useless. He appreciated the backhanded compliment, not that he'd admit it—he knew the entire line of thinking was a little too strange for words.

Hayner was dragged out of his thoughts by Seifer cursing under his breath though. "What more do those bastards want from me?" A complaint. Reno and his group had been trailing after them for three different worlds now. Hayner paled a little as he remembered their first meeting.

"Er…don't kill me but…I think I might have an idea…"

Seifer blinked, then glared daggers through the teen. "And I think you'd better tell me before I decide you're not worth the trouble of keeping around."

"Hey! Come on, a lot's been going on, I forgot!"

"You forgot _what_ exactly?"

"Er, those shiny orb things they had in the crates…I still have a couple of 'em in my pocket."

Seifer almost barreled into a metal ring as he stared at Hayner in shock. "Let me see 'em."

Hayner winced as Seifer clipped another ring and the ship jerked a bit. "Can we maybe…you know…LAND first? My life is flashing before my eyes here and let me tell you right now, hasn't been much of a life."

Seifer scoffed. "Chicken."

"Jerkwad."

---

Hayner poked at the mound of ice that was once a heartless. "How'd I do that?"

"Who cares," Seifer replied. "Figure out how to do it again." He grimaced running forward to slash through one of those adorable little pains in the ass. Couldn't he have a mostly civil conversation just once without being interrupted? Apparently not.

"Easy for you to say! You're the one who has a sword!" Hayner protested kicking at the nearest heartless—it just goes to show—right when you think things can't possibly get any worse someone comes along to prove you wrong.

"Bitch, bitch. Moan, moan. Whine," Hack. Slash. "…whine."

Hayner punched again and a frozen heartless crashed into another frozen heartless, shattering both into a bunch of tiny pieces. "Hey! I think it's this thingy!"

"Can't you do better than 'thingy'?" Seifer complained, not looking his direction and therefore having no idea what he was talking about.

"The shiny blue orb thing, Dick," Hayner retorted. He'd had it in his hand when the heartless suddenly began to attack. It _just now_ dawned on him that he was still holding it in his clenched fist. …almost twenty minutes later. He was getting tired. Thank god for Struggle battles and skateboarding. Hayner found himself in decent shape—though he never thought he'd actually have to struggle against real, live heartless. That was something for keybladers, wasn't it?

"Oh," Seifer answered, hacking away at another. For the first time they had a notable advantage. Thank Hyne for that!

"Oh! That's all you've got to say? 'Oh'?" Hayner griped "I'll have you know this is freakin' cool!" No pun intended.

Their advantage wasn't meant to last long. The remaining heartless made a terrible screeching noise, slowly collecting and forming a much larger body, a man. No. A man with wings, no…what the hell…? Hayner blinked and rubbed his eyes fighting a deathly chill that ran down his spine.

"SEPHIROTH!" Seifer declared and lunged.

The man looked at them, gave a smile like they'd missed a terribly amusing joke, turned, and disappeared through a black vortex. Seifer, mid lunge, disappeared behind him.

"_Seifer!!_" Hayner didn't get the option, the heartless returned at full force only this time he was all alone. How the hell was he going to get out of this one??!

---

_To Reviewers:_

_Popthetarts:_ yep, and here's another one. Sorry for slowing down so much. It's not that I'm sick of the story or anything. There just…aren't enough hours in the day.

_Leaf the invisible: _Thanks, I've been hearing that a lot since I started this story, and here I'd thought I was the only one who got that vibe. Well, it works out then. Thanks. I feel like after six chapters of meandering along I'm finally getting towards the actual plot. Amazing, right?


	8. Chapter 7

A/N: Okay, I have to get my ass in gear and finish this story. I do. Because I've starting getting quirky little ideas for Leon/Demyx and I refuse to write more than one fanfic at any given time.

Also, for those of you who've forgotten or otherwise just didn't know in the first place, the name of Seifer's gunblade is Hyperion, so when I reference it you won't be all confused.

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts & Final Fantasy VIII

Pairing: SeiferHayner (with mention of others)

Notes: story 3 of 3. Sequel to "For What It's Worth"

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

**In So Many Words**

**Chapter 7: Revelations**

Maybe it was fate. Leon didn't really believe in fate—though he did believe in exceptionally good (and exceptionally bad) luck—but he couldn't deny that there was a certain _something_. Even after their world had been destroyed and so many of the people dear to them had been killed…he somehow kept getting tangled up in Seifer Almasy's life and vice versa. Once it had been intentional, only once. Everything after that was a fluke.

Like, for example, when he found a teenage boy unconscious, battered, and surrounded by heartless it just seemed like common sense to both himself and Cloud to rescue him, bring him to their temporary home, courtesy of the Imperial Court of the Land of Dragons where they had been helping fight a sudden outbreak of heartless, and patch him up. It seemed a perfectly ordinary and Leon-like thought.

…and then the boy groaned, looked up at Cloud, who was applying a cold compress to his forehead, saw blonde hair and blearily asked, "Seifer? What happened to your hair?" before promptly passing out again.

Leon had tensed, and Cloud, adorably paranoid, quietly got up and spent the next hour in the bathroom with a hairbrush. Leon decided to focus on the fact that his husband was adorable and try to ignore the fact that he'd somehow gotten tied up in Seifer's life again. He also tried to ignore the fact that there was just _something_ about this boy that was so incredibly familiar he couldn't quite shake a certain bizarre feeling of camaraderie. Impossible. The only connection they had was through Seifer—and that one, at least on Leon's part, was entirely against his will.

Hayner spent another three days phasing in and out of consciousness before he awoke. Leon, Cloud, and Mulan took turns watching over him. There were still heartless to fight but he couldn't very well be left alone either. But when Hayner finally awoke again it was, of course, when Leon was sitting in the chair beside the bed, left ankle resting on right knee, arms crossed over his chest, and chin dipped slightly toward his chest as he began to drift off thinking '_Leon, you work to hard. You and Cloud should take a vacation_. _I hear the Land_ _of Dragons_ _is beautiful this time of year. _I am _never_ listening to Aerith again. I've hardly gotten to spend any time alone with Cloud at all. And besides, a pre-marriage vacation is a ridiculous idea.' Sulk. Mope. Bad enough he was being taken away from the restoration of Radiant Garden as it was. They were all insane. He was _not_ stressed out and overworked, and the next person to suggest it was _going to die a slow and painful death._

Regardless, he'd finally been forced on a vacation and he hadn't gotten to vacation and what does he get to 'wind down' with?: an infestation of heartless and an almost-dead teenage boy who's somehow connected to stupid Seifer Almasy. Leon didn't believe in fate. But he _did _believe some deity out there was playing an excessively mean joke on him.

Hayner rolled over blearily, wincing at a sharp pain in his side from not moving for so long. Where was he? What was…? Still half asleep he blinked up at the man beside him who had yet to notice him stir. And in this half conscious state he chuckled slightly. "You grew out your hair."

Leon startled and jumped to alertness, looking down at the teen who was blearily grinning up at him.

"You look like your old man. Can't wait to tell 'im. You'll," he yawned. "Never live it down…"

Squall's eyes widened in a bit of shock and horror and he leaned towards the teenager. It couldn't be, just couldn't! The name passed his lips barely a whisper, "…Zell?"

Hayner blinked to full consciousness and the spell of the moment was broken. He sat up, groggy and aching everywhere, with a soft grunt, as Leon watched him intently, unsure if he was just losing it or if…

"Do I really look that much like this guy?" he asked, rubbing at his shoulder. "Everybody keeps mistaking me for him."

Leon blinked and leaned back in his chair. Was he losing it? What had happened just now?

Hayner looked at him, tilting his head and raising a brow. "Helloo-oo, anyone in there?"

The brunette shook himself out of his thoughts. "No," he answered abruptly, shaking his head a bit. "Hardly at all." 'But there is _something_,' Leon thought. 'Some connection.' He couldn't help but feel really bad for the kid if Seifer was using him as some kind of replacement lover, but he couldn't brush it off as easily as that either. He hadn't misheard, and that grin…he'd never mistake it. "You're probably hungry. I'll get you some food."

Hayner's stomach rumbled and he looked a little embarrassed before laughing. "Yeah, guess you got me," he answered.

Getting up and going into the adjoining room where there was a small fridge with a few bare necessities, Squall Leonheart shivered slightly. He'd never mistake that stupid grin. Never. Zell had been his _best_ friend. Was he somehow alive and lost inside this boy? Was it unfair of him to hope he could somehow come back? Yes. It was unfair. He knew it was unfair. And yet…

"Hyne," Squall breathed. "Some omnipotent being out there really, seriously, hates me."

Little known fact: Seifer's penchant for fire wasn't because he liked to see things burn, it was because as a child he'd been almost as afraid of the dark as Squall Leonheart had been of being alone. There were things in the dark, lurking—things like heartless, things like Sephiroth.

People will tell you that you get over your childhood fears, that you grow out of them. It's a lie. Childhood fears never wholly leave. They're the driving force that shapes us into who we'll eventually become. Seifer Almasy was a man who liked to know the whole story, who liked to be in control of himself and when possible, everything around him. He hadn't felt in control of anything in a very, very long time. Lost in the dark with only his Hyperion and a fire spell to light a radius of some ten feet around him Seifer didn't see that changing any time soon. He growled irritably under his breath and hollered on the top of his lungs "SEPHIROOOTTH!"

A bemused chuckle crackled in the air around him. "Come out, bastard!"

"Not very nice. You come into _my_ house, and start demanding things. You're a terrible guest, Seifer."

"Go to Hell!" Seifer snapped.

"Do you really think you're the one to tell me that, Mr. Sorceress's Knight?" the voice laughed at him. "You know, that's why I like you, Seifer," Sephiroth informed him. "You're quite possibly the most gullible, most _pathetic_ person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. I mean, I thought Cloud was pretty bad, but you're not even close to his level. I didn't know a human being could be so…" the echoing voice lingered and paused dramatically. "Incompetent," he finished.

Seifer grit his teeth and swung Hyperion at the darkness. To his surprise, it shrunk back a little.

"Careful, puppy, I bite back," the shadowy mass with Sephiroth's voice informed him. "But really, to think, I invited you here and you don't even want to know why I think you're so stupid. Everyone knows, you know."

Seifer's brow furrowed.

"Everyone but you, that is. I can imagine it, a century or two from now. You'll be famous. Seifer Almasy: the stupidest man in the universe."

Seifer slashed again. He hit something and an irritated hiss fizzled through the air and the voice sounded slightly annoyed when it spoke again. "I wonder, can you even call it true love if you don't even realize your lover when he's right in front of your face?"

"Stop beating around the bush, asshole." Seifer was more determined than ever to slaughter this bastard.

"If I'd put Irvine in that body, Squall would have recognized him in an instant. Poor, pathetic, Seifer. I practically dropped you right into his lap, and you didn't even know…"

"Wait…" Seifer slowly put the pieces together, or tried. "This is…somehow about Hayner?"

A bark of laughter escaped the darkness. "Forget Hayner," Sephiroth said. "Hayner is nobody. The question you have to ask yourself," the voice began to fade into the distance as it spoke, "..is whose…"

Seifer hollered and slashed at the darkness…only to find himself falling face first into a snow bank. He spit out a mouthful of snow and squinted at the bright morning light, letting those words trail through his brain a few more times. '_Hayner is nobody. The question you have to ask yourself…is whose…'_

A short bark of laughter escaped his lips before it soon became hysterical. "Zell…oh Hyne…Zell…" And the laughter soon became a cover for a fit of sobs. He'd had no idea. No idea at all… was he really so stupid? They really did…have _so much_ in common. And that was because…all along…Hayner and Zell were…one in the same?

Seifer didn't know whether to be horrified or relieved. He just knew he had to get his bearings. Had to get up, dust himself off. He had to find him. Zell. Hayner. What's in a name anyway, right? It was fine to start over, now that he knew. '_Zell…'_

A shiver ran down Hayner's spine and Cloud looked up from where he was collecting the spoils of his most recent heartless battle on their front doorstep. "You okay?" he asked.

"Y-yeah," Hayner answered, a little distracted. "I just got a chill all of a sudden." He looked down at the black gloves on his hands with their iron knuckles and made a fist. They somehow…felt so very right. Something was still missing but it almost felt as if they always belonged to him.

"That wasn't bad," Leon told him from where he stood leaning in the doorway. "You two want to take a break. Mulan says that lunch is ready."

"Yes! Food!" Hayner cheered, rushing past him. Something in Leon's eyes made Cloud pause, resting a hand on his forearm.

"I'm fine," Leon answered, giving Cloud a soft look that was reserved for his fiancé only. "It's probably nothing, so don't worry about it for now."

"He reminds you of someone," Cloud stated.

"Yeah…" Leon answered, looking inside over his shoulder. "…something like that."

---

_A/N: _Man, I've FINALLY gotten to this point. I really didn't know how I was going to make it happen. I've been wracking my brain for the past like, three chapters thinking 'how am I going to get from here to there? No…Freaking…Clue. But I did it! Let us rejoice! The huge big secret is FINALLY out! Can you believe I actually had this revelation planned from the beginning? I just had no idea how to make it happen until well, yeah, about now.

_To Reviewers:_

Leaf the Invisible: Well, curiosity is good, that means you might come back for more. :p And how could I not include Hyperion in this ficcie huh? I mean, darkness incarnate, god of the sun…I was morally obligated.

Popthetarts: Well, I'm glad you found it again too, since you're one of my two reviewers, and also because your reviews are usually entertaining. That doesn't hurt either.


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: OMG! Two chapters in one day? Impressed, anyone:D

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts & Final Fantasy VIII

Pairing: SeiferHayner (with mention of others)

Notes: story 3 of 3. Sequel to "For What It's Worth"

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

**In So Many Words**

**Chapter 8: Darkest Before the Dawn**

Leon sighed. "It's alright, Mushu. He's one of the good guys…sort of."

Mushu slowly raised a brow at Leon, arms crossing his chest, "I do _not_ feel comfortable with this," he jerked a thumb at Seifer in the doorway, looking ragged and a little bit insane really. "Being one of the 'good guys'. We got a reputation to uphold! Can't just let everyone into the good guy club!"

"One more word and you'll be a _Cajun-style_ dragon, midget," Seifer said, glaring daggers at the little fire breather. He wasn't intimidated. He was sure he could out-fry the smart-mouthed dragon any day of the week.

"Whaddid you say?! Why I oughta…!" Mushu made a gesture as if pushing up his sleeves.

Leon pinched the bridge of his nose. "Mushu, it's freezing out there. Either let him in, or go outside to see who can melt the mountain faster, but whatever you do, close the damn door," Cloud said, subtly rubbing his lover's shoulders. Leon looked up at him with a subtle gratefulness and from his place and with a good amount of muttering and complaint Mushu stepped aside and let Seifer in.

"You ran into some trouble," Leon stated as Seifer stalked inside, eyes darting from one side of the room to the other. Leon had seen him this way before. Paranoid. Nervous. Looking for demons in every shadow. It was right after Adel's brainwashing had worn off. He ended up back at Garden—though he'd taken the long way around—and he just cut too pathetic a figure, trying to act like his usual badass self, to wholly turn away. Still, any time Seifer strolled back into his life Squall couldn't help but get the sinking feeling everything was about to go straight to hell.

"I'll get him next time," Seifer muttered, mostly to himself before asking directly. "Is he here?"

Leon sighed. "In the kitchen."

Once Seifer passed through the door, Leon leaned his head back and looked up at Cloud. "For our Honeymoon…maybe we should go to the 100 Acre Wood."

Cloud quirked a brow. "You want to spend our honeymoon inside of a book?"

"I want to spend our honeymoon somewhere quiet with no heartless, no Seifer Almasys and plenty of places to hide. Somewhere quiet where people say 'vacation' and actually mean it."

Cloud smirked down at him and ran his fingers through deep chocolate hair. "I'll think about it."

---

Hayner was bending over to peek into the microwave, waiting for his snacks to be done—mini-hotdogs in a crispy croissant wrapping. Yum. So he was really pretty distracted and didn't hear Seifer come in…and yelped when the older man suddenly latched onto him, pulling him into a tight back-to-chest embrace.

'_Zell._ _Oh Zell, I am sooo sorry. The signs were all there and I was just too pre-occupied to see them,'_ Seifer thought, inhaling the sea breeze scent of Hayner's hair, the slight muskiness of his skin.

Hayner yelped in surprise and struggled free to turn and see who'd suddenly attacked him only to find Seifer giving him the strangest look. "Wh-what? Do I have something on my face?" he asked. And then, "Hey, Seifer, you know, you kinda look like shi—mmph!"

Hayner didn't get to finish that sentence, primarily because Seifer grabbed him again, propped him up to sit on the kitchen counter, and devoured his lips in the kind of fierce, passionate kiss you only see in movies and even then only the ones where lovers have been separated for years at a time only to have a tearful reunion. Hayner's eyes widened in shock, but he couldn't keep that up as his mind went blank and he felt a tingly, numbing sensation coil in his belly and explode outwards all the way to his toes and the tips of his hair. Before he could really get a grasp on what was happening he was wrapping his arms around Seifer's broad shoulders and moaning softly into the kiss.

Seifer didn't take his time plunging his tongue into the teenager's mouth as if he was trying to devour the boy whole and intended to start with his mouth. It was…a little clumsier than he remembered Zell being, but still pretty nice. He'd caught his love by surprise, after all. When they parted, panting for breath, Hayner's cheeks were bright red.

"I missed you so much," Seifer breathed. It seemed so simple to him. Hayner was Zell. Therefore, he obviously must have missed him too, and he obviously would understand what he was talking about and why he kissed him in such a way and every little nuance of what was going through his head.

But Hayner wasn't Zell, not exactly. He was confused, and blushed and tripped over his tongue awkwardly, wondering what had come over Seifer and why that kiss had felt so amazingly, undeniably right and… "m-my hot dogs…" Were probably cold by now.

Seifer actually grinned at him, and what an _amazing_ expression it was—the way his green eyes lit up and dashed years of his features. He laughed a little, a warm, melodic sound and moved out of the way, gesturing towards the microwave and stepping out of the way so Hayner could hop off of the table only to be swooped up into Seifer's arms again, mini hot dogs in one hand, Hayner in the other, as he put the snacks on the table and the teenager in his lap, nuzzling his neck a bit.

Was Seifer on drugs? It was all Hayner could think. Seifer had to be _on something_.

"Can I have one?" the older male asked with the strangest tone of adoration.

"Get your own," Hayner instinctively snapped.

Seifer grinned and stole one anyway. When Hayner protested, Seifer tried to kiss him again. Hayner turned at the last second, blushing and shoving a handful of mini-wieners into his mouth as an excuse and Seifer's lips ended up landing on his cheekbone. Seifer was on drugs. Definitely. There was no other explanation for this bizarre behavior, so he decided for the moment he'd let it slide…even if this position was more than a little embarrassing.

As the teen stuffed his face with one hand—he DID really like hot dogs and it kept Seifer from any impromptu kisses temporarily (hopefully until the weird drugs wore off)—Seifer grabbed the other and ran his hand over the black and silver gloves he was still wearing. Hayner had quickly become attached to them, really. They were comfortable, well worn, and they made him feel like less of a wimp. He felt safer when he wore them.

"Metal Knuckles," Seifer said, running his fingers over the ridged plate over the back of Hayner's hand. "I haven't seen these in a long time."

Hayner swallowed. "Leon gave them to me."

It was at that point that Seifer realized something was wrong. Hayner had just said 'Leon'. Not 'Squall', but 'Leon'. He said it naturally, as if he didn't find the new name a little odd. Seifer couldn't get used to it and Zell and Squall had been best friends. Zell shouldn't have such an easy time adapting to the name change.

Hayner blinked as the older male narrowed his eyes studiously, like he was trying to find something wrong.

'Have I just made a fool of myself?' Seifer wondered. He chose his words carefully for someone who's mind was spinning. "Do you…remember him?"

"Should I?" Hayner asked, blinking.

"…and…me?"

Convinced now that Seifer was coming down from some bizarre high, Hayner just blinked. "Of course I know you. You beat me up all the time."

"When did we meet?"

"You came crashing through the wall," Hayner answered.

Seifer shook his head a bit. "No," he said, "Before then."

Hayner looked at him like he had three heads. "I think you're over tired."

"No, that's not… Zell…"

Hayner frowned and promptly got up. It was something about Zell. Again! Who the hell was this Zell person anyway? Before he understood why, his temper exploded. "I am NOT Zell," his hand slammed into his chest. "I'm just me! Hayner! Stop comparing me to him! I have feelings too you know!" And for an instant, just an instant, Hayner had felt like maybe deep down, somewhere inside Seifer was attracted to him, not the reminder of some long dead lover, but _him_, _Hayner_. And Hayner thought, well, Seifer was a handsome guy, and deep down he had the feeling there was more than the man let on. More than just the badass, the bully…there was more to Seifer. For a few moments Hayner thought he might like it, unraveling those layers to find the man underneath. Holding and being held… It was embarrassing to think about, but he thought, maybe…

But he was just a replacement. No, not even a replacement, a misunderstanding.

Seifer understood then. Zell was in there, but not in the way he left him. Hayner wasn't Zell. Not exactly. He was Zell's Nobody. A shadow of Zell, not even a real person at all, not really. He thought he was, but he was just a shadow. All the traits Zell had that he'd hated and grown to love…they were all there. His favorite foods, his stubborn pride, even his looks. They were all there, but altered, subdued, not as vibrant. Hayner was nobody. He was only a shadow. But he was _Zell's_ shadow, and damn it! If a shadow was the closest he could get to the man he loved, then he'd take it. He swallowed his pride a bit and said, "Sorry, you just…remind me so much of him sometimes. You're Hayner, of course. I know. I'm just a little overtired." He forced a weak, appeasing smile.

If Zell had fallen for him…all he had to do was work at it a little and Hayner would too. He was sure of it. Sure, nobodies didn't have hearts, not really. But Hayner thought he had one, right? It didn't matter even that's how it was. He'd sell his soul to the devil if it meant he could be with Zell again—even if that Zell was only a shadow seen in passing. He'd call him whatever he wanted to be called. Names didn't matter. Some piece of Zell was still alive in this boy from Twilight Town. As far as Seifer Almasy was concerned, that's all he needed to know.


	10. Chapter 9

A/N: Okay, so just for the record I made an error in chapter 7. I'm not going to go back and correct it because, well, I'm lazy. I referred to Cloud as Leon's husband. Just for the record, I meant to type 'soon-to-be husband'. They're not actually married yet, just to clear that up. It's probably a very minor point, really, but I wanted to make note of it here anyway to avoid confusion on the point. Well, this is just the kind of thing that happens when you don't re-read your work, right? Right. My separating lines also disappeared when I uploaded. Oops. I'll try to be more careful about that kind of thing from here on.

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts & Final Fantasy VIII

Pairing: SeiferHayner (with mention of others)

Notes: story 3 of 3. Sequel to "For What It's Worth"

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

**In So Many Words**

**Chapter 9: You See Me**

Hayner pretended to sleep. Seifer pretended not to know that Hayner was only pretending. Ever since their reunion, things had been tense. There was no other way to explain it. Sometimes, their fingers would brush by accident, or Seifer would catch Hayner's gaze just so and it made the teen's knees go weak. But since that day Seifer hadn't tried anything. Hayner knew he wanted to. He didn't, however, know what it was that _he_ wanted. On the one hand, so much made some kind of twisted sense. The way he'd kept getting involved in Seifer's life—accepting wedding invitations, stowing away on a death trap of a gummi ship. He liked Seifer, not Zell, but him, himself. Hayner. But Seifer didn't see him that way. Seifer didn't see him at all. When he looked at him he was looking for someone else—he was just polite enough not to say so was all. It made Hayner sick to his stomach. On the one hand, he could accept Seifer's subtle advances, knowing they weren't meant for him. On the other he could turn them away and with them any slim chance he had with the older man. Sometimes he thought he should accept the advances and patiently wait until Seifer realized that maybe he liked him after all, not just Zell, but him.

…and he hated the weak part of him that thought like that.

So, it came to this: Hayner pretending to sleep, Seifer pretending not to know he was being avoided even within the close confines of the gummi ship. Seifer was sure, given enough time, Hayner would come around. But he was starting to feel a little impatient. To be so close…and yet not close enough. And as for Sephiroth…he still wanted revenge—revenge for taking Zell away from him…and revenge for giving him back, but only sort of. For all his machismo and egoism Seifer was feeling more than a little stressed out and confused. He'd thought it was simple—he'd get his revenge, find a small town, settle down somewhere quiet…and maybe eventually find someone to wile away the time with who he'd like a little but not love—not nearly as much as Zell, but someone who could maybe take his mind off of it all from time to time. But Sephiroth breezed back into his life with hardly a thought, told him the god-forsaken-honest-truth, and getting Zell back was just as painful as losing him had been. More, in some ways, because he'd been completely forgotten, because everything they'd shared was gone and now he had to somehow find a way to start over.

…and Hayner was being difficult.

And Seifer's priorities had become a jumbled mess. What was more important? Killing Sephiroth? Or getting Hayner to look at him the way he used to…back then…when he was someone else? What should he be doing right now? Hunting down his lover's murderer, or trying to get Hayner to look at him—to love him. Or at least, to think he loved him. Seifer didn't really understand all this nonsense about people with hearts and people without them. What did it matter? Even an imitation of emotion, if the person feeling it thought it was real, was just as good as the genuine article, right?

Before they'd left the land of dragons, Leon had given him this look that said 'if you hurt him, I'll hunt you down and kill you'. He did so while saying that Hayner wasn't Zell. Seifer made a scoffing noise. If Leon actually believed that, he'd never have made the warning. He was certain that Hayner had Zell's memories in there somewhere, up to and including the ones of him, and the ones of them together…he just had to find them somehow. Until then, he'd just keep pretending that getting revenge against Sephiroth was the only thing that mattered.

And Hayner would pretend not to notice it was a complete and total lie.

It went on like this for weeks—half-hearted searches, empty conversations. On the up side, Hayner's fighting skills were improving at break neck speeds—battling heartless was the only time anymore that he felt real. The way Seifer's eyes looked through him sometimes just made him feel completely transparent, and what was worse—Seifer knew all of his favorite foods—not just the obvious ones, the clothes he would like, and he could easily guess all of his favorite songs…not because he knew Hayner that well, but because he knew Zell. It left Hayner uneasy and he found himself subconsciously trying to change his habits—claiming he wanted iced tea instead of orange soda and acting put out that Seifer had guessed wrong, claiming he suddenly hated bands he'd liked his entire life. He felt like if he did anything else he'd have to admit that it was true and he very much didn't want to be what Seifer thought he was. He wanted Seifer to see him as an entity separate from the person he'd once been so obviously in love with. If he just sat back and accepted the things Seifer knew about him, it would be as good as accepting that he wasn't real. And if he wasn't real, Hayner figured, it'd be just as well for him to be dead.

BAM!

Hayner startled out of his thoughts as the ship jolted and rolled and Seifer cursed under his breath. "Wh-what…?!"

"Fucking heartless again."

"Why didn't you wake me?" Hayner complained, scurrying over to the gunman's seat that had somehow become his job even though he was only tolerable at it.

"…"

"Seifer?" What was with that expression? Seifer looked like he was sulking.

"Because I figured you'd just _know_, alright!" Seifer snapped. "You…always knew."

There were a few heartless ships that became the brunt of Hayner's frustrations at that answer.

"_HE_ always knew," Hayner grit out, just barely resisting the urge to flail or start shaking with outrage or get out of the gunman's seat and just go beat the shit out of Seifer—primarily because he had no idea how to fly this thing.

"Stop trying to pretend you aren't one in the same!" Seifer snapped.

"Stop trying to pretend we are!" Hayner demanded. "You knew Zell inside and out, I _get that_, I _do, _honest! But I'm _not_ him. Everyone's wrong. I'm just me and if you'd get your head out of your ass for five minutes maybe you'd see that! It's not him here with you, bastard. I'm all you've got! It's just me! Hayner! What do I have to do to make you see _me!_" As soon as the words escaped Hayner's throat he wished he could reach out into the stale air and swallow them before they reached Seifer's ears. That wasn't how it was supposed to go. He wasn't supposed to explode like that.

But the words shut Seifer up, or at the very least, change the subject. "We'll be landing in the Pride Lands next."

Hayner didn't say anything for a good five minutes. He didn't trust himself to speak, really and he was feeling incredibly frustrated. "…do you think we'll really find him _there_?"

"If nothing else," Seifer answered. "A silver-furred or feathered whatever is bound to stand out."

Hayner sighed. "Fine. Whatever. But the first time you try to sniff my crotch you're getting kicked in the head."

---

So, yeah, this chapter was basically an intermission/transitional phase. Really sorry that basically nothing happened. Next chapter will be better.

_To Reviewers:_

_Leaf the Invisible: _ hah! Well, I won't tell him about the nickname if you won't. Glad you're enjoying it so far.

_FREAKSHOW1: _Well, if he wasn't, it would be a VERY SHORT story.

_Merryweather: _Well, feeling bad for Seifer was the main reason for writing a third fic, buuut…that doesn't mean I have to make it easy on him. I mean, how would I have my sadistic fun then?


	11. Chapter 10

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts & Final Fantasy VIII

Pairing: SeiferHayner (with mention of others)

Notes: story 3 of 3. Sequel to "For What It's Worth"

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

**In So Many Words**

**Chapter 10: Reflection**

This couldn't be happening! It _could. Not. Be. Happening._ Hayner stared down at his reflection in the puddle. It didn't rain often in the Pride Lands, but that didn't mean it _never_ happened. He and Seifer had landed, apparently, after a freak deluge, and let me tell you, it's hard enough to learn to walk on all fours without adding trekking through mud to the list. He flexed his furry paws and tried to use his claws to get some of the icky, gunky feeling out from between the pads to no avail. But _that_ wasn't really the problem. Seifer was giving him really strange looks. They were somewhere between 'I'm going to pounce you the first chance I get' and 'see, told you so.'

And that brings us back to the very thing that Hayner determined couldn't be happening as he looked down at his lion-cub reflection in the muddy puddle. He had this one ridiculous cowlick in the front that stuck almost straight up and no amount of feline grooming seemed to help tame it. That was a minor point though—he wasn't exactly known for the flatness of his hair anyway. It stuck up all over the place in these kinky little waves that really were only pretending to be spikes. He'd stopped trying to tame it years ago. But one single cowlick? It looked idiotic. He turned his face to the side though and frowned a little at what Seifer had obviously been staring at when they landed in the Pride Lands all lion and lion junior. One side of his face had this strange black-furred marking that looked almost like some kind of tribal tattoo. At first Hayner had thought it was more of that gross black mud and tried to rub it away—he _had_ tumbled straight into a mud puddle while he was trying to get his four-legged bearings. But no, it was fur. Dark black fur in a very distinct design.

"It's late," Seifer said. "Let's just find somewhere dry to sleep and start looking in the morning."

Hayner's emotional state wasn't helped any by the fact that Seifer was a full grown lion at the moment—with a scar across the bridge of his nose (some things never change, it seems), and Hayner was...a little kid. Seriously. Seifer's paw was almost as big as Hayner's lion cub scull. And even for a lion he had a feeling Seifer was probably huge. He was huge for a human. He had a feeling they'd meet other lions who were going to look up at him and say 'whoa!' and look down at Hayner and say 'awww'. Hayner was feeling extremely indignant about the entire affair.

He just didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to think about a lot of things, but prime among them was the way Seifer kept slipping glances at the side of his face. When they were settling down in a small cave he finally asked. "This...has something to do with _him_ doesn't it?" He sounded exhausted by the very idea of it all. It was like some deity was rubbing it all in his face, like bit by bit his life was being stolen away from him.

Seifer, for once, forewent the usual arrogant know-it-all tone he could adopt when he thought he, well, knew it all. "It's the same mark," he answered, trying to find some comfortable way to curl up on the cold stone floor and finding a chill run up his spine. "He had a tattoo like that. I don't know what possessed him to get it, but it was important to him. Part of who he was, you know?"

"Great, so naturally now it gets to be part of who I am too. Joy."

"Come here," Seifer said, gesturing with one of those big paws.

Hayner hedged over slowly, "..what?" he asked, wondering what Seifer was up to...and letting out a yelp when the older male pulled him down against his chest with one furry arm over him. "Seifer!"

"I just remembered that lions usually sleep all cuddled up. Laying on this cold floor makes me understand why. It's nothing dirty, you're just warm." There was a stretch of silence as Hayner tried to get himself comfortable and force his furry little 'tattooed' face from heating up too much in embarrassment. Did lions even blush? He didn't know but it sure felt like it. He glanced up to find Seifer's emerald eyes already drifting closed. His own retained their brown hue, for the record, rather than Zell's baby blue. "Anyway," Seifer managed around a rumbly little yawn. "I know you don't want to believe it, but this is proof that you and Zell are connected somehow. If you don't want to believe you're one in the same, at least accept that much."

"Yeah," Hayner muttered irritably. "Sure. Just accept this one thing, then this one other thing, and while you're at it this thing only makes sense...before you know it I'm not even me anymore."

Seifer yawned again. "You're making too much out of this. You're you. You always have been. There's just more of you than you thought there was, so save the identity crisis for tomorrow morning. I'm tired."

"I need a bath," Hayner complained a bit. He'd rather not think about the more major issues right now—for once he agreed with Seifer; it could wait until morning.

"You need to shut up and go to sleep," Seifer retorted, letting his eyes drift closed and his head flop slightly onto his left foreleg. "...before I get cranky."

"You were born cranky."

"...crankier then. Shut up," Seifer answered in that absentminded way he used when he was exhausted and not really paying full attention to what was being said.

Hayner let a little puff of breath out of his nose. "...goodnight, Seifer."

"G'night Zell," Seifer answered around a yawn, drifting off to sleep.

Hayner fought any and all urges to burst into tears at yet _another_ one of Seifer's little slips of the tongue.

Waking up the next morning cuddled against a warm, broad—albeit very furry—chest didn't help things any. He felt warm and comfortable and it would be so very, very easy to just stay like that all day, identity issues be damned. He was half tempted, really, but didn't get the chance as a rumble tumbled through Seifer's chest and green eyes opened blearily at the cub he'd apparently taken wholly captive in his sleep. He stared for a moment. The oddly familiar cowlick of fur had gotten mussed from being planted against his chest all night and now it spread out all over the place at strange, almost curly angles. Brown eyes blinked up at him with an innocent, owlish look to them and Hayner tried to wriggle out of his grasp clumsily—his tail sticking up in the air like it was swatting flies as his bottom wiggled and when Seifer took pity on him and moved his forepaw, Hayner tumbled backwards until he thunked against the cavern wall, which left him swaying a bit with a dizzy look before he had the presence of mind to curse at his misfortune.

Seifer was still a bit too groggy to do much and with a little growl of protest forced himself back up onto four paws from the lounged pose he'd taken in slumber as he gave Hayner—who was scrambling to his own feet now—a cursory glance and said, "…keep expecting blue," mostly to himself.

Big brown eyes blinked at him but didn't get to ask as his stomach rumbled. Hayner's head dipped down, eyes on the ground, embarrassed by the loud sound that came out of such a puny form.

Seifer couldn't resist a knowing smirk. "Food and a bath, right?" he commented. "Let's see what we can find." He gave Hayner a little push and the lion cub stumbled forward awkwardly on paws too large for his small frame. Seifer found he often forgot how young Hayner was. Zell had only been a year his junior and Hayner was just about the age Zell had been when Seifer first decided 'I'm going to make him mine'. So, such things often slipped the scarred male's mind. But when Hayner was a lion cub that just barely surpassed his kneecap it was kind of hard to ignore. He knew he should maybe feel like some kind of dirty old man in this situation, but he didn't. They had too much history to start sweating the details now and he was determined that Hayner feel the same way. History, memories…over time he was sure Hayner would remember everything they'd been through together, but for now it was enough that he cared. He was sure that even Hayner felt it—the connection between them. He might be trying to deny it, but it was there. There were, maybe, some differences, Seifer would maybe admit to that—but a lot of time had passed. Sure, people grew and changed, but that didn't change how he felt and he was sure it didn't change how the boy scrambling along to try to keep up with his long strides felt either. That was good enough. As long as there were still feelings between them, the rest would tumble into place, right? And Hayner didn't protest as much when he moved a little too close, or used being cold as an excuse to cuddle while they slept. It wouldn't be much longer.

He outright laughed when Hayner spotted the clear pools in the oasis and dove right in. "I thought cats weren't supposed to like water."

Hayner's soggy lion head poked out of the water and he stuck his tongue out at the larger male. "I'm only a lion when I'm here. The rest of the time I'm just a human boy who loves the beach and being _clean_. And for the record, you're a little rank right now too."

Seifer screwed up his nose, but then a slight mischief entered his eyes and Hayner had to wonder if he hadn't made a terrible, terrible mistake by pointing that out as Seifer said, "Oh yeah? Then maybe I should dive right in."

"Ah wait, no...!"

Too late. Seifer dove into the pool causing a great swell of waves that left Hayner awkwardly clinging to a rock coughing up water and looking rather like a drowned...well...cat. He coughed. "Jerk."

'So. Cute.' Seifer couldn't resist paddling over and nuzzling the water-logged cub. "Don't be mad. I was just messing with you."

Hayner resisted nuzzling back. No. Wasn't gonna do it. ...even if it felt really, really nice. He had his pride. He did. And he was _not_ going to purr as Seifer nuzzled the 'tattoo' on the side of his furry face. Never. Damn it all to Hades! He was purring...

Once he got his breath back he tore himself away and padded across the pool. Seifer followed. His larger size made it easy to catch up and Hayner found his clumsy little lion body had nowhere to run. "Is it really so horrible," Seifer asked, "to be liked by someone like me?"

"That has nothing to do with it and you know it," Hayner protested crankily. "I'm not the one you _really_ like."

"Would it be so terrible if you were?" Seifer replied, for once not losing his temper as he tried to nuzzle Hayner again.

Hayner sighed and let him but didn't respond. "Even if you suggest it, I can't believe you. You know that." Because Seifer didn't mean it. He might think he meant it, but the way his eyes would trail over the marking on the side of the lion cub face, the way he kept 'expecting blue' instead of brown...everything told Hayner that the older man was still hung up on this Zell person and probably always would be. He just didn't know if being second best was enough for him. 'Maybe I'm asking too much,' he thought sullenly. 'Maybe as long as he likes me a little it's good enough,' Hayner thought. 'But then again, maybe even considering his words to be even half true is just wishful thinking.' He knew that Seifer probably believed what he was saying, but it wouldn't be the first time that Seifer Almasy had been wrong about something. Point in fact, it probably wouldn't even be close to the last time either.

Seifer opened his mouth but didn't get the chance to pursue the conversation.

"Aw, how sweet. You know, from this angle you almost look like a proud papa."

Seifer's gaze turned fiery and he jumped from the water with a loud roar. Now he was sure of it: Sephiroth was purposely messing with him! And to add insult to injury, the bastard wasn't stuck in animal form at all but strolling around as his usual black-winged self. He smirked. Seifer launched, deciding to make good use of the claws this form granted him. But then, it's never that easy, is it? He was tossed sideways like a sack of potatoes, thumping hard into a nearby tree with an audible crack. Whether it was the tree of Seifer's spine—Hayner just didn't want to think about that as he scrambled out of the water himself and Seifer wobbled a bit as he righted himself looking terribly irritable. He was going to finish off Sephiroth once and for all damn it! He had to! He'd never be able to move on with this bastard hanging over him—past, present, future, and otherwise. It didn't look good, but lion or no, Seifer couldn't keep letting this evil bastard ruin his life like this. He forced his aching muscles into a forward lunge…and ended up with empty air and a jolt of pressure for coming down to hard on his forelegs. 'Damn bastard's fast,' he thought, making to spin about…

Hayner saw Seifer miss. He could barely make out Sephiroth's movements—he was just too damn fast—and all he was able to detect was a silver and black blur. But then, it stopped. Seifer began to turn. Sephiroth's massive sword began an arc of descent… it was like slow motion at first…and then he made a split second decision and leapt at Sephiroth from behind. Time started to move again as he bit down as hard as he could on the man's forearm. The sword thunked to the ground and Sephiroth for once looked seriously irritated, yanking the cub off and flinging him—hard—into the nearby cliff face.

If it was possible for Seifer to turn ghostly white in lion form he did so now. "HAYNER!"

The cub collided with the cliff and a pile of rocks collapsed, half burying him in rubble. Brown eyes half-lidded, tried to open, then closed as he lost consciousness.

'No! Not again!' Seifer thought in a panic, running to the cliff at full tilt. 'I can't do this again!' "Hayner!"

Sephiroth moved to block his path, but didn't get the chance this time—a loud roar came from behind him and he soon found himself face down in the mud. "Hurry up and get him out of here!" Simba called to the large lion. "Find Nala at Pride Rock. She'll help!" Simba was tossed back in aggravation and

Sephiroth rose, turning to the Lion King. "You shouldn't have interfered," he said.

Simba growled deep in his throat. "You shouldn't cause trouble in someone else's home!" he replied.

Sephiroth charged. They clashed, landing in switched positions, a bit of blood dripping from the bite wound on the silver haired man's arm.

"Go!" Simba roared again, pouncing upon the swordsman.

Seifer didn't need to be told a third time, furiously digging Hayner out of the rubble and grabbing the scruff of his neck with his teeth. He didn't consider himself a coward, but there were some things more important than the will to fight, and right now saving Hayner was on the top of that list. By the time he made it to this 'Pride Rock' place every muscle in his body ached. He put Hayner down and nudged him with his nose. The boy didn't stir. A blue-butted monkey came out but Seifer just roared for this Nala. "Bring her _now_," he demanded. If his manners were slightly…non-existent, they'd probably forgive him for it. He was obviously severely distressed. 'Don't you die! Don't you dare die on me again!' he thought in a panic. He gave the boy another nudge with his nose.

This time Hayner made a pained sound and his eyes opened slightly to meet positively hopeful green. Wet fur clumped a bit at the corners of Seifer's eyes. He smiled weakly at the older man before passing out again.

In spite of all protests otherwise about how his own injuries ought to be tended to, about how he should try to rest, and against all assurances that Hayner was going to be alright, Seifer spent the next three hours pacing back and forth and snapping at any non-assisting party that got too close to his companion. After the first hour most of the other lions decided it was better to just stay outside until he cooled off a bit.

After tending to Hayner, Nala found herself pacing as well, waiting for Simba to come home. In the second hour, he did so, limping along with one of his forelegs bloody and broken back up the rock, positively irritable about how the 'two legger' got away. Simba didn't seem intent to notice that he should just be grateful he was alive.

Seifer knew he should thank him, but wasn't good with words of gratitude and hoped that the male lion understood without him having to say anything. Simba didn't seem to mind for the moment as Nala tended to his injured leg. He was too agitated and in too much pain right now to care whether Seifer said thank you or not.

In a little over three hours Hayner woke again. At the first sign of movement Seifer was practically right on top of him, staring down at him and eagerly waiting for his eyes to open. When they did, the first thing out of Hayner's mouth was a yawn and then the comment, "quit staring at me like some kind of creepy stalker," as he tried to roll away from those eager green eyes, but relief flooded the elder and poor Hayner fell victim to some elated nuzzling.

"Cut it ouuut…" Hayner whined. "Your whiskers tickle…Seiferrr…" He couldn't protest too much when Seifer was this happy though. He'd really been worried.

"Thank Hyne," Seifer exhaled. "Don't _ever_ scare me like that again."

"I was trying to save your life, oaf," Hayner retorted.

"Don't do that either." He didn't need to relive the past and he supposed he didn't need Hayner to remember him so much if it meant he might remember how Zell had died…that horrible battle…no, it didn't matter anymore. As long as he was safe everything else just…didn't matter at all.

Hayner just sighed a little and watched as Seifer's legs—far overworked—just gave out underneath him. "I was worried about you," Seifer admitted for the boy's ears only.

Hayner rolled over, a little achy but otherwise okay. A day or so of rest and he'd be as good as new. He didn't remember a lot, but he was sure he'd heard Seifer call his name, not Zell's, _his_. Even so… "…which one of me?" He probably shouldn't push the subject but couldn't help it.

Seifer sighed. "Does it even matter anymore?" he asked exhaustively. "I…can't lose you. Whatever else you believe, believe that."

Hayner smiled softly and got up with a bit of a grunt to curl up against Seifer's side for a bit more rest. "I believe you," he answered quietly. "But it works both ways." A tiny yawn escaped him, ending in an endearing little squeak. "Don't be so reckless and I won't have to save your lousy ass."

"I'll take that under advisement," Seifer answered, feeling months of stress roll off of his shoulders as Hayner yawned again and burrowed himself under his arm to sleep. Sure, there was still the Sephiroth issue. He wasn't so stupid to not realize they still had a huge wall to somehow overcome, but he was certain that as long as they were together the rest would come with time. He had to have faith in that much at least. And, he thought, it would be great if Hayner still wanted to sleep like this even when he wasn't quite so furry and cuddle-able.

---

Wow. I think…this chapter was much longer than the last few, huh? I just couldn't resist. Kitty Hayner and Seifer are so cute and huggable.

_To Reviewers:_

_Leaf the Invisible: _Well, here's more…and a lot more than planned. Who knew that so much would happen in the Pride Lands, geez!

_FREAKSHOW1: _Well, Seifer spent the better part of FFVIII digging his own grave, so I don't see why he should stop now. (Okay, so he was brainwashed for a good part of it, but not the whole thing…I do recall a certain idiot barging into a certain tv station, for starters…) Well, I guess everyone is entitled to their own take on Seifer, but mine involves him doing a lot of jumping in head first and then realizing, 'Oh. Crap.' Even so, I don't hate that side of him.


	12. Chapter 11

A/N: My god. I can't even tell you how many times I opened this chapter intent to write the last like…three paragraphs, only for all hell to break loose and me to find I didn't have the time to do it after all. Well, eventually I managed it though. Sorry for taking so long. And really sorry that I _suck _when it comes to fight scenes (as you probably all know by now anyway). I always cop out. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts & Final Fantasy VIII

Pairing: SeiferHayner (with mention of others)

Notes: story 3 of 3. Sequel to "For What It's Worth"

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

**In So Many Words**

**Chapter 11: Then He Smiles**

Hayner found himself thinking about it a lot. Darkness. Light. The Heartless. And no matter how much he thought about it he just couldn't seem to fully get it. Human beings weren't nearly that simple. They couldn't be neatly divided into good and bad. There was so much more to it all. He'd always thought he understood people. Back in Twilight Town he thought he had it all figured out. Now he understood what a child he'd been and felt embarrassed over his naiveté.

He looked back to the bed where Seifer lay asleep with his left arm under the pillow and hanging off the edge of the mattress, sheets tangled about his hips and thighs as his feet hung off the end of the mattress. Talk about the perfect example of how complicated human beings could be. On the one hand, he could be so amazingly patient. …on the other when he got his mind on something there wasn't a damn thing anyone could do to dissuade him or put him off.

Hayner turned his gaze back to the mirror. He kept expecting something to change. It wasn't that he was expecting to spontaneously transform into Zell just because he'd accepted Seifer's advances—at least not anymore. But he still kept expecting something to be different, subtly changed about him, something he should notice. Especially after…

Hayner blushed.

…especially after last night. Even if there was no Zell, he thought after…after _that_…he should seem somehow different--older or more mature or something. But no matter how long he stared into the mirror he still just saw puny little Hayner. And then he looked over his shoulder and there was Seifer all…big and broad shouldered and Adonis-like… Hayner sighed. There was no use thinking about it. Maybe Seifer just had a thing for short guys. Even so, Hayner hoped he'd get at least a _bit_ taller…so he didn't have to stand on his toes for kissing, at least. Blush.

He startled when the older male came up behind him and wrapped him up in a warm embrace. "Mornin'," Seifer drawled lazily, smirking a bit at the way the boy nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise.

"Don't sneak up on me!" Hayner protested. Never mind that looking into a mirror meant you should very well be able to see things sneaking up behind you. Unless, like Hayner, you were feeling very, very distracted.

"You're thinking too hard again," Seifer said, leaning over to plant a soft kiss on his temple.

Lacking any manner of clever retort, Hayner just sputtered a bit before saying, "P-put some pants on! Nudist."

Seifer grinned at their reflection. Hayner wearing only those camouflage short pants of his and Seifer wearing considerably less than that. "I can walk around naked in front of my lover if I want to," he commented blandly—unable to resist teasing the boy.

Predictably, Hayner's cheeks flared brightly. Lover. He was Seifer's _lover _now. Part of him wanted to squeal like a fangirl, and the other part was sorely tempted to run away screaming. Just what had he gotten himself into? When Seifer tilted his chin up and leaned over to steal a lingering kiss Hayner decided that it didn't matter as long as Seifer kept kissing him like that.

"Sore?" Seifer asked when their lips parted.

It took Hayner a moment to get his brain around the question and when he did his cheeks turned bright red again. "Jerk!" he protested. "G-get dressed! We can't stay in here all day anyway! People will think things!"

Seifer grinned, amused, and leaned over to darken a hickey he'd left on the boy's neck last night. "They'll be right."

"Get _dressed_," Hayner whined. "Leon will get annoyed with you if you're late again."

"_Leon_ needs to yank the stick out of his ass," Seifer complained. "I don't know why I agreed to help in the first place."

This time Hayner smirked a little. "Because I asked you to and you can't say no to me." It quickly turned into an impish grin that got devoured by another kiss.

"Yeah, I hate that about you, for the record," Seifer replied.

"No you don't."

"No," Seifer sighed. "I don't. Go ahead without me, tell Mr. Bossy that I'll be restoring and the like with the rest of the Scoobies in ten minutes. Just gonna take a quick shower."

---

Hayner liked Leon. Really, he did. He was kind of stoic and way too serious, but underneath it all he was a pretty great guy. He overdid it a bit on the responsibility and he was completely infatuated with his fiancé, but those things just kind of made the teenager want to mess with him. He didn't know what Seifer had against him and didn't let the animosity keep him from having his fun at the brunette's expense…like randomly flopping into his lap when he knew Cloud was about to round a corner and watching Leon jump and look all guilty even though Cloud was basically in on the joke from the time he would see Hayner bolting around the corner to get to Leon before the spiky-haired blonde did.

Eventually Leon would just sigh, pinch the bridge of his nose and snap, 'get to work!' while trying to hide a faint smirk.

When he and Seifer landed in Radiant Garden Hayner instantly decided they were going to stay a while. For one, the wedding was only a month away and Leon was working so hard on restorations that Cloud was getting irritated that he wasn't helping enough with the wedding planning. (Never mind that the girls were doing most of it—you can't trust Yuffie and Aerith with decorations or there'd be yellow and pink flowers everywhere, which is very inappropriate for a wedding between two men without a feminine bone between them…at least none they'll admit to.) Frankly, Cloud didn't care whether the doilies were dove white or French cream, but he'd be damned if he was going to suffer alone.

Ergo, when Hayner and Seifer arrived to find that Cloud was giving Leon 'do you _want_ to sleep on the couch?' looks, Hayner decided they were going to temporarily join the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee. Seifer agreed when Hayner started giving him 'do you _not like_ kisses?' looks. That didn't mean Seifer did it without complaining though.

"You're injured," Leon observed as Hayner winced, squatting down to pour some more paint.

"I…er…it's nothing." Damn traitorous cheeks. He looked down quickly and the brunette decided he would be best served to drop the subject before it was too late and he ended up with information he didn't want. Hayner wasn't Zell. He knew that in theory. There were a lot of things that were different and not just in looks and age. Even so, he was fond of Hayner. There was something about him that was likeable in the same way that Zell had been likeable and he found that despite the difference in age and the attachment to his long-time rival they'd become fast friends.

Leon changed the subject. "Where is he?" It seemed the animosity between the two was never going to disappear completely, but they did make efforts to tolerate each other. That was good enough.

"He'll be here soon. He overslept and…ah…he's in the shower right now."

"Fine," Leon said, which was really a lot more tolerant than usual. "Let him do that. I need to get some more stone from the caverns. Help me do that instead. We'll ride the cart up." The cart being a wooden crate on some wheels that they'd put in to make moving stone and other heavy materials a bit easier. It wasn't the best ride—it was rickety and bounced around a lot, but it beat the hell out of climbing up a mountain ten times a day to carry down handfuls of stone and brick when you could make one or two trips instead.

"Ah, okay, sure," Hayner said. It was rare that Leon declared he wanted or needed help with anything.

Leon called to Tifa and gestured to the cart. She nodded and made an 'ok' sign with her right hand before wiping her brow and squatting down to lay more brick—she was just so much better suited to the 'manly' jobs, not that anyone liked admitting that the woman was frighteningly strong, but whatever. Hayner liked her too. When there was extra time, she sometimes taught him good martial arts type stuff, which it turned out he really rather liked…and she loaned him magazines that were actually really educational. But that was neither here nor there. Hayner startled a bit as Leon very subtly slipped a potion into his hand. The teen blinked.

"Just use it," he sighed. "If you don't the ride up will be painful for you given your current condition."

Hayner colored again. It was that obvious, huh? He nodded a little sheepishly and downed the liquid muttering a 'thanks' as the tension and ache eased away.

An extended silence passed as they rode the cart up, Leon staring out to the side as Hayner tried not to feel awkward that no one was saying anything until Leon suddenly blurted, "I don't think I'll ever figure out what you see in that guy."

Hayner shifted a little uncomfortably. "Me either," he answered, but then blushed at the way that sounded. "I mean…it's not so simple as seeing or not seeing, I think. He…can be a real ass sometimes."

Leon nodded. Yep, he knew that.

"…but…then he smiles and I can't help but forgive him everything. And…he needs me. And I think I…maybe…kinda need him too…and that's good enough." He nodded as if he'd only just realized it. "That's enough for me." It was a sort of epiphany. He and Seifer…they'd spent so much time wresting with phantoms—things that didn't matter at all, really. Love always seems so complicated until you're in it. Then it all becomes amazingly simple. Seifer needed him and wanted to be with him. The reasons for that were stupid and inconsequential and he hated to admit that he'd been hung up on them for so long.

SLAM! The cart jolted to a halt and Hayner went flying, just barely having the presence of mind to tuck and roll before he broke anything. When he looked up it was to come face to face with a very familiar black boot. He looked up slowly, swallowing the lump in his throat…up to a long coat…tendrils of silver hair…magma green eyes…

_'Crap!_'

Leon, bless him, had already recovered and held his Lionheart at ready, eyes narrowed.

Sephiroth gave him a sweet smile. "It's been practically _forever_, Squall," he crooned. "You look positively dashing."

Leon's eyes darkened. This guy…this guy was _not_ going to ruin _another_ wedding for him. Hell no! He charged with an angry holler. Hayner just had the presence of mind to get the hell out of the way. The way their swords clashed hard against each other was a sound Hayner was sure would be ringing though his ears for weeks.

After a brief struggle, Squall was forced back, the force causing tracks to form where his boots dug into the ground. He grunted slightly, but was quick to recover, and launch another attack, but not quick enough for Sephiroth's inhuman speed. He barely managed to dodge the man's slender blade—it leaving a gash in his shirt.

The brunette frowned and Hayner instinctively knew that expression: _'I liked this shirt.'_ It was second nature for Hayner to jump to his feet and pull his fists into a guard position beside Leon, who blinked at him for a moment before giving the teen a curt nod.

They both charged...

There was too much on the line not to: Leon's impending marriage, Seifer's peace of mind. There was too much to protect. Leon and Hayner understood one another perfectly without having to say anything. This had to end. Had to. There was no maybe about it. They both felt they had no choice. For the sake of their respective lovers a resolution had to be reached, right here, right now. One of them had been killed by Sephiroth before, the other had lost a lover at the man's hand once and couldn't bear the thought of it happening again. It felt as if it had been somehow fated to end this way from the beginning.

Swords clashed, fists slammed, the dust underfoot was kicked up in a smoke of fog by the time it happened. Hayner rolled back, using his momentum to flip Sephiroth over in a defensive move…only for the man to rather accidentally become skewered upon Leon's gunblade! Well, you'll find a hard time finding a better example of karma than that one.

Leon, pulling no punches, twisted the blade in Sephiroth's midsection and yanked upwards, hard.

The last expression Hayner saw before Sephiroth fell-blood pooling out into black ooze and body melting into black slime and then nothingness, was a sardonic little smile, as if the silver haired male somehow knew he'd just gotten his just desserts in his final moments.

Leon dropped the blade, panting heavily. Hayner found his legs giving out from beneath him as all of his adrenaline seeped right out and left him battle-weary and unable to do much of anything for a few extended moments. They exchanged a look and silence. "Is it over?" Hayner asked, half expecting the man to somehow pull himself back together laughing maniacally. It just seemed impossible. All the havoc Sephiroth had caused and it was just…over? Was that even possible?

"He's over," Leon answered. "We're just getting started. …finally." It was nerve-wracking, to suddenly realize with the deep cut of a blade that your life was your own. Silly, really, but in the back of his mind Leon kept expecting Sephiroth to show up in the middle of his wedding again to ruin his life a second time. Now he wouldn't have the chance. Well, good.

He didn't get the chance to think on it too much as Seifer, Cloud, and Yuffie came around the bend. Seifer took one look at Hayner—exhausted and rubbing at a sore shoulder—and the boy was suddenly enveloped in a tight embrace. Hayner blinked. "Ow. Hey, not so tight," he complained a little and Seifer pulled back. "What happened?" he asked.

"Well, y'see…"

Cloud looked down at Leon with his trained bland expression that really translated as 'I was worried, but I'm going to pretend I'm not. "You were taking a long time," he stated. "…and there were a lot of heartless all of a sudden."

Leon grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him down into a very, very tight embrace. Cloud blinked in surprise at the sudden PDA from the normally stoic brunette. "Those lace doily things," Leon mumbled.

"Huh?" Cloud asked.

"I hate them. Let's pick something else, okay?"

Cloud's lips twitched and he very nearly smiled, "You'll tell me what happened later?" he asked, though Leon didn't seem like he felt like talking about it right now.

"He's dead…" Hayner finally answered. "_That guy_."

Seifer's eyes widened in surprise. "You…the two of you…"

"It just kind of…happened…" The tightness of Seifer's embrace caused Hayner to whine in protest again before sighing and suffering the pain in his arm to wrap them around the blonde's neck. "I love you too you insensitive jerk," he complained very quietly, knowing that it really was a load off of Seifer's mind. Okay, so maybe he hadn't avenged Zell with his own hands, but what was important was that Sephiroth was dead and gone, right? And that Hayner was, well a little beat up, but otherwise okay. That was good enough.

Nobody noticed when Yuffie took the opportunity to snap a few embarrassing photos and, of course, steal any and all materia present. Well, they could always get it back later, right? Best not to ruin the moment—they've earned it.

---

A/N: Well, I FINALLY got this far. Took me long enough. After this, there will be an epilogue to tie up the loose ends and because after three stories Leon has earned his damn wedding.

_To Reviewers_:

_leaf the invisible:_ glad you liked it. Hope you enjoyed this one too.

_FREAKSHOW1: _Well, after all this time, no reason for him to start now. Besides, it's more entertaining this way. What with all the fist shaking and everyone calling Seifer a dummy. Entertaining for me, at least.

_Dark Heartless Dragon: _Thanks so much for the review then! I understand what you mean, I'm TERRIBLE at reviews so I hardly ever review anything I read. I mean…I don't think I've reviewed a damn thing in well over a year! Heh. I'm glad you like the story even though you haven't played any final fantasy (though you really should. They're awesome games if you can get your hands on them. My highest recommendations are for 7 and 8. 7 for the severely addicting mini-games, and 8 for the wonderfully entertaining characters. But, yeah, that said…moving on.) Hope you enjoy what's left of the story.


	13. Epilogue

A/N: Here it is, the epilogue. To those of you who followed these stories from start to finish. Thank you so much! Your frequent and entertaining reviews helped to keep me inspired. I hope you've all enjoyed reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts & Final Fantasy VIII

Pairing: SeiferHayner (and others)

Notes: story 3 of 3. Sequel to "For What It's Worth"

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

**In So Many Words**

**Epilogue: Fairy Tale Ending**

"Leon, stop pacing and bend down so I can _attempt_ to do your tie," Hayner complained.

"I'll do it," Seifer offered from where he stood in the corner, arms crossing his chest.

"I'm the best man!" Hayner countered. "It's _my_ job."

"And I don't trust you," Leon informed the taller blonde. He would probably never trust Seifer, but they'd at least managed to tolerate each other nowadays—for Hayner's sake.

"Afraid I'm going to strangle you on your big day?" Seifer smirked. "Good to see you're still a _paranoid neurotic._"

Leon stopped pacing and sat down, if only in a sour attempt at proving Seifer Almasy wrong. Hayner had to try four times before he finally got Squall's tie just so…and after the third time Squall muttered something about collarless dress shirts. It wasn't that he had cold feet. It was just that the last time he'd tried this whole marriage thing things really hadn't gone well for him at all. He wondered if Cloud was feeling half as nervous as he was.

---

"Remind me again why I agreed to this?" Cloud asked after getting the air back into his lungs from Yuffie pulling his cummerbund far too tight.

"Because you're in love, _love_, L-O-V-E," Yuffie teased.

"Not _that_. I meant agreeing to let you be my best…person."

"Because Tifa is busy with the catering!" Yuffie said cheerfully. "And I promised to tell you where I hid your materia if you let me."

"Oh. Right. In other words, it's _all your__ fault_."

"Yup!" Yuffie answered happily. "You can return the favor by being my maid of honor when I'm old and finally decide to settle down. Tifa tells me you look great in a dress."

_"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"_Cloud protested, fighting the urge to blush brightly and only partially succeeding.

"Hahaha! Cloudy in love! It's so cute," the girl teased.

"Shut up or I'm telling Cid you REALLY want to take a ride on his new Gummi Ship."

Yuffie paled then stomped a foot indignantly. "You don't have to be so mean!"

---

Neither Cloud nor Leon had any real love for cathedrals in the long run—too many bad memories there—so the wedding was arranged as an outdoor ceremony with a white gazebo and plenty of folding chairs. Cloud was a little indignant about walking up the isle, but after a bit of bickering about who would get that particular role the two men had eventually flipped a coin on the matter and Cloud ended up with the bad end of the deal. At least there were no small children throwing rose petals—both agreed that was ridiculous. He _did _rush it a little though, and there being no one to 'give him away' soon found himself in front of the brunette—who apparently looked amazing in a suit as far as he was concerned.

Leon took his hands gently. Hayner was trying not to do any happy 'awww' bouncing from his place slightly behind the brunette, and Seifer was sitting in towards the front row this time around—and not hiding behind that silly hat of his.

The shadows toward the back of the group under the shade of a pair of trees with twined roots were reserved this time for Ansem and King Mickey. It was a casual affair and neither seemed like they were hiding so much as staying out of the sun and having a quiet conversation while not disrupting the ceremony, watching the pair exchanging vows, and more studiously the teenager playing the role of best man.

"Not how you expected things to turn out, is it?" Mickey asked.

Ansem gave a non-committal shrug. "If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. The human heart is an unpredictable thing. It would appear that even death couldn't stop his from loving who it loves. Sort of counts as a happy ending, I suppose."

"Do you think he'll get his memories back?" Mickey asked.

"His memories as Zell Dincht, you mean? No, I doubt it. Never completely. He may have Zell's heart, but he's still Hayner. He grew up in Twilight Town and lived his own life long before they were ever…reunited, so to speak. Any memories he has as 'Zell' are memories of the heart, not the mind. I don't imagine it matters anymore, whatever the case," Ansem replied.

At the front of the crowd, Seifer couldn't repress a soft smile when Hayner looked at him with that silly grin of his. Hayner couldn't help but blush as that tiny smile sent butterflies on parade in his chest.

"I see what you mean," Mickey answered. "Even so, putting Zell's heart into that nobody…whatever possessed you to do something like that?"

Again Ansem shrugged a little. "Curiosity?"

"Curiosity," Mickey echoed.

"Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. It kept those hearts out of the hands of Organization XIII, didn't it?"

"Where did you put the rest of them?" Mickey asked. "Selphie, Irvine, Laguna, Rinoa…?"

Ansem looked a little uncomfortable as he thought about this. "Well…to be honest…I don't really remember. It doesn't matter so much anyway as long as everyone's happy, right?"

"Not exactly a fairy tale ending, is it?" Mickey asked as the reverend pronounced Cloud and Squall 'husband and husband' and Squall actually smiled down at the somewhat shorter blonde, before pressing their lips together to seal the deal.

Ansem thought on this as he watched the blushing newlyweds complain when everyone started throwing rice at them; and as he noticed Seifer use this chance to pull Hayner off behind a tree and gave him a rather firm, adoring kiss.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself," Seifer murmured.

"Impulsive much?" Hayner retorted.

"Love me anyway?" Seifer quipped, planting another kiss on the corner of Hayner's mouth.

"…yeah."

When Ansem finally spoke again, his answer was rather definitive. "I think it's close enough."

The End

--

_To Reviewers: _

_FREAKSHOW1: _Hey, after three stories I think they've earned some 'nauseating' fluffiness. Besides, it's a Disney-based series. Well, okay, the latter really has nothing to do with anything. I just think the boys earned it after all the hell I put them through.

A/N: I FINALLY finished. Goodness! I was starting to think it would never end. Not that these stories weren't fun, but they were really hard at times! My next story will be (I hope) much shorter and will be Kingdom Hearts, Leon x Demyx, so those of you interested, keep an eye out for it. I'll probably start it in a week or two. The working title for that is "ALL YOU WANTED", though who knows if I'll rename it by the time it makes it up here.


End file.
